A community group campaigning for recognition of one of Maribyrnong’s most beloved war heroes has lashed out at the Department of Defence for ignoring its pleas.
The Friends of Sandy and the Australian Light Horse Inc have spent more than 20 years working to establish a lasting memorial to Sandy, the only steed to return to Australia of the 169,000 horses sent to World War I.
The major stumbling block to completing the memorial garden project has been gaining access to a small section of Defence land where Sandy was buried, next to Maribyrnong Community Centre on Randall Street, and currently being decontaminated.
The group was awarded $17,622 to fund a memorial under the Anzac Centenary local grants program, but Friends of Sandy’s Pauline Ashton said it continues to get the run-around.
“It’s a very simple request, it’s just a little slice of land where Sandy is buried.
“The thing that really frustrates me is we’ve got members in our 90s, we lost our secretary who died, my dad who was involved in this and he died – I would just love something to be done before we lose all of them.”
Maribyrnong MP Bill Shorten has thrown his support behind the group, but the Defence department has not yet decided whether the location is appropriate for Sandy’s memorial.
It is negotiating with the state government’s property development agency, Places Victoria, over the future residential redevelopment of the site.
