On 12 May, Mayor Leigh Gray accompanied by fellow councillors officially opened the Brighton Town Square followed by a lunchtime community celebration.

Over the last six months the Brighton Town Square has been developed by Brighton Council into a vibrant hub for the community – a place to rest, connect, and play.

At the heart of the square is a water play area, surrounded by seating, greenery, and magical lighting. The space also celebrates local wildlife with beautifully crafted timber sculptures of an echidna and a platypus, along with sandblasted footprints of native hens and wallabies.

The Mayor, thanked the designers Playstreet for the creation of the beautiful space and SLS Landscapes for the quality of their workmanship and construction skills.

The Mayor opened his address by saying, “It gives me much pleasure to see everyone gathered here today in our new Brighton Town Square. I feel very proud of what Council has achieved here, and I am certain the Town Square will provide a vibrant heart for the township and for everyone who lives, works or visits the Brighton community.”

Mayor Gray made special mention of IGA Tasmania for their support for the Town Square project. Brighton Council has worked with the IGA as part of the new development from the birth of the idea, to ensure they could provide an attractive gather-ing place in what is Brighton’s central shopping precinct.

The Mayor said, “What you see today with the beautiful landscaping and informal seating and play elements could not have happened without the full co-operation and support of IGA Tasmania and all of the wonderful tenants in the retail space including Cellarbrations, Banjos and Subway.”

The opening celebration included a sausage sizzle hosted by the Rotary Club of Brighton with sausages generously donated by IGA and bread donated by Banjo’s. The Cancer Council were at hand to promote awareness and an opportunity for community members to make a donation to this very worthy cause, whilst grabbing a delicious Banjo’s donut decorated in the organisation’s yellow and blue colours.

Brighton Council’s youth worker John Flack attended with some older members of our community and their djembe drums. Thank you Monica, Dot, Lorraine and Norma who were invited by Linton Burgess to provide a beat for his Welcome to Country. The ladies are undertaking an intergenerational drumming activity on a regular basis with primary school students in our community and this was a great opportunity to showcase the djembe drums.

The Mayor finished his address by saying, “I hope this gathering space helps bring our community together, that it becomes a popular place for connecting with each other as we go about our day to day business and provides a central meeting place that our community gets much joy from and gives a sense of belonging. Let’s hope that in years to come it becomes the norm for everyone to say ‘let’s meet at the Town Square!’”