INGRID WALTHAM chairs the Booyeembara Park Working Group. Involved with the development of Boo Park since the first community consultations in the 1990s, the east ward councillor has watched it transform from an abandoned tip-site to an award-winning place of natural beauty. After a few tough years at the park, she reckons it’s time for people to rediscover the beauty of Boo Park at the Ngala Maya community festival on March 15.

PRE-DAWN, and a fine mist hovers over the wetlands. The cool air smells fresh and clean, and a chorus of frogs provides a cheerful early morning soundtrack to foraging wading birds.

As the sun peers over the eastern cliff top, the first morning rays break the mist and cast a pink glow over the water. A family of ducks floats past, gently disturbing the reflections of the clouds above. A lone woman performs yoga at the end of the boardwalk, lost in the reverie of her surroundings and her solitude. Wetlands and green expanses, winding pathways, native bushland…and amongst it all a stillness, a tranquillity, that defies where you are.

So—where exactly are you? You’re in Booyeembara Park, in the heart of Fremantle’s hustle and bustle.

This magnificent space has not always been such an idyllic oasis, however. It had its origins as a meeting and gathering space for local Nyoongar people (the name Booyeembara is a Nyoongar name for the limestone coastal land). In more recent times it was used as a limestone quarry, before being abandoned and becoming a dumping ground for Fremantle’s rubble—which was to become a lasting and problematic legacy.

It was in the 1990s that the local community saw potential in the deserted space, and after many workshops and intensive community consultation, the council adopted the Booyeembara Park Master Plan in 1999. It was a grand and exciting plan, embracing and demonstrating reconciliation, community and sustainability.

A taskforce consisting of city officers, local councillors, community representatives and local elders was set up to oversee the implementation of the master plan, in consultation with Ecoscape environmental consultants and landscape architects.

Enthusiastic locals joined the Friends of Boo Park group, and thus the community took ownership of the park, throwing itself into action—hundreds and hundreds of person-hours planting, watering, weeding, mulching and hauling endless limestone blocks in the creation of the amphitheatre.

Close to 100,000 individual plants and trees indigenous to the area were planted, including tuarts, balgas, Fremantle mallee, marri and jarrah. Hectares more were seeded. Native fish, several species of frogs, ducks, and an entire cast of waterbirds and birds call this place home, indicating a healthy ecosystem. A billabong at the foot of the cliff was part of the original master plan, along with the olive grove, playgrounds, a garden narrative and community food gardens.

Reconciliation was an integral element of the park’s master plan, and a storytelling circle and limestone circle depicting the Wagyl and the six Nyoongar seasons were early highlights. The opening of the park in 2000—planned by respected Elder Marie Thorne, who also named the park—included a ceremony telling ancestors that people were to be returning to the site. Another ceremony was held a week before the Sydney Olympics that linked the spirit of the Olympics with peace and reconciliation, and featured dance, storytelling around the fire, and a flame brought from the Nyoongar nation.

A decade of hard work by an incredibly dedicated group of people followed. Unfortunately, following the discovery of asbestos and other contaminants in the park (a legacy of the extensive dumping in the ’60s and ’70s)—progress halted, and for several frustrating years the majority of the park’s budget was directed at intensive site testing and investigations.

The testing is now over, and a comprehensive site management plan is in place to take the park forward. Budget funds can now be reallocated to those elements that the community wants, including, ultimately, the completion of the long-awaited amphitheatre and storytelling circle. It is also timely to take a fresh look at the original master plan of 1999, and reassess the future direction of the park.

And this is where we need you!

When did you last visit? There is so much more to Boo Park than just being a beautiful green space. This is Freo’s King’s Park—a large regional green space, a national award-winner, a groundbreaker in sustainability, recycling and revegetation. A park with a proud indigenous history, and a remarkable community story.

We’ve had some tough years, but now it’s time for our park to start to heal. It’s time to welcome everybody back to Ngala Maya—our place—so we’re celebrating coming “back to Boo” with a community festival on Sunday March 15. It’s the perfect opportunity to rediscover the park; to learn more about its fascinating story and have a say in how you think it might be improved.

Come and join in the fun from 4pm with didj players, indigenous dancers, a damper and kangaroo tail cook-up, drummers, model boats, skateboarders, food vans, stalls and kids’ activities—then stay on from 6.30 for a sunset community picnic and cool DJ tunes till 8pm. See you there!