The elderly mother of a victim of the 1971 Woden floods has welcomed a decision by the ACT Government to build a memorial to the seven victims of the disaster, most of whom were children.
Chief Minister Jon Stanhope has confirmed the Woden Flood Memorial will be dedicated on Australia Day, 2010 39 years to the day when the raging floodwaters took seven young lives including siblings from two families.
Those who died were Jennifer Anne Seymour, 12, and her sister, Dianne Elizabeth, 8; Michael John Smith, 6, and his two sisters, Carmel, 18, and Margaret, 14; Roderick Dumareq Simon, 20; and Lon Cumberland, 18.
The memorial will be built in parkland near Service Street, Curtin, and include seating and engraved stones amid native plantings.
''Plans for the memorial have been developed in consultation with family members of the flood victims,'' MrStanhope said.
''The consultation has afforded those most affected by the flood tragedy with an opportunity to meet as a group for the first time.''
Lon Cumberland's mother, Una, 82, has seen the plans for the memorial and thinks ''it's beautiful''.
''Words can't express how I feel,'' she said.
Full report in today's Canberra Times
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