Launch of Wellington Dam Experience in the South-West

15/4/99
The Wellington Dam Experience, - the latest component of the Living Windows Into the South West network - was launched today by Regional Development Minister Hendy Cowan.
Mr Cowan unveiled a self-guided walk trail featuring an information gazebo, lookout and a series of high quality display panels. The panels interpret the unique cultural and natural environment associated with, and resulting from, construction of the dam in 1931.
The attractive panels contain a mix of modern and historical photographs which depict the beauty of the area, but also the harsh conditions faced by the workers and their families during the Depression years.
Mr Cowan said the panels would help visitors to appreciate the impressive scale and history of the dam through a number of key themes.
These include:

• life at the camps;
• the forest;
• the Collie River Catchment;
• the quarry;
• the construction; and -
• the water (includes the dam's hydro-electric station).

Linking the gazebo, lookout, quarry and the interpretive panels, are a number of self-guided walk trails.
Mr Cowan said that the project's key objective was to help the Collie area diversify its economic base and highlight the many opportunities available in the Collie River Valley.
The project has been co-ordinated by the South West Development Commission and the Department of Conservation and Land Management, with funding sourced from the commission, CALM, Worsley Alumina Pty ltd and the Water Corporation.
The Wellington Dam Experience will complement the proposed resort development at Potters Gorge and the Wellington Discovery Forest (another Living Windows module) some 10kms south of the dam.
It also brings to 16 the number of Living Windows sites now open to the public throughout the South-West. This innovative network of nature-based tourism attractions aims to highlight the unique environmental diversity of the region, while helping visitors to enjoy a high quality experience.
Media contact: Peter Jackson (Minister's office) 9222 9595
Graham Hodgson (SWDC) 9792 2000