Margaret Timpson Town Park

A green space at the heart of Belconnen Town Centre

• Location
• Facilities
• History
• Margaret Timpson - an inspiration to all women
• Designed as an inner city green space in Belconnen
• A place to walk through or rest awhile
• Reference
  

Location

Benjamin Way, opposite the Belconnen Mall.

• A map showing Belconnen Region with the location of Margaret Timpson Town Park marked.
• A map of Margaret Timpson Town Park.

Facilities

Seats and a central path which provides a pedestrian route between the Belconnen ridge and developments. There are no public toilets in the park, however these are available in nearby buildings, including the Belconnen Public Library. Time controlled parking is available adjacent to the park.

History

Margaret Timpson Town Park is intended as a significant green space linking offices, apartments and other facilities on the Belconnen ridge with Westfield Shoppingtown Belconnen (Belconnen Mall). Its formal design makes use of special botanical and sculptural features to produce a park with a unique character, that is not seen elsewhere in Canberra. The naming of the park links it to a well recognised Canberra citizen involved in the women's movement.

Margaret Timpson - an inspiration to all women

Margaret Timpson's name has been associated with the contemporary women's movement in Australia for many years. Prior to her death in 1993, she was a statistician with the Australian Bureau of Statistics which is located near the park bearing her name. She contributed to the enhancement of the status of women in Australia at the local and national level. She was selected as the inaugural Canberra Woman of the Year in 1990 and in the 1991 Australia Day Honours List she was recognised as a Member of the General Division of the Order of Australia.

A plaque at the centre of the park records the official naming on 10 March 1994 by the then Chief Minister Rosemary Follett. Nearby is a boulder donated by the ACT Women's Consultative Council, on which is inscribed: "Margaret Timpson, AM (1941-1993), Inaugural ACT Woman of the Year 1990. An important inspiration to all women." The Australian Bureau of Statistics donated a nearby seat in her memory.

Designed as an inner city green space in Belconnen

A key feature of the park's formal design is the pedestrian path system. The central path, which is aligned with the Benjamin Way entrance of Belconnen Mall, provides the key link between the Belconnen ridge of Chandler Street and developments at the lower level. A key facility on this pedestrian route is the Belconnen Library. The pergolas with climbing plants on the north and south cross paths provide shade for pedestrians on hot summer days, while planting boxes and red brick paving add to the formality of the design.

There are a number of special elements in the park. A unique planting of six advanced Canary Island date palms (Phoenix canariensis), a tree not commonly planted in Canberra, marks the centre of the park, while the sculpture "Tumbling Cubes" by Bert Flugelman has been placed near the arched park entrance at the north-west corner. Two grass pyramids have been added as sculptural elements and these may be planted with flowers at selected times of the year.

The park is planted with mixed exotic and native trees and shrubs, however their impact on the park is not strong at this stage. The planting includes large groups of English elms (Ulmus procera), London planes (Platanus x acerifolia) and river oaks (Casuarina cunninghamiana), all of which are large scale trees.

For those who want to rest in the park, there is ample seating, while the irrigated grassed areas provide additional opportunities for relaxation on fine days. A small seating area near the centre of the park was developed as a part of the "Australia Remembers 1945-1995" Program.

A place to walk through or rest awhile

Margaret Timpson Park is a popular place in the Belconnen Town Centre, both to walk through and to rest for a while. It can be used also for large gatherings of people. As the landscape matures its attractiveness will increase. The park's naming renders it a special place for those who recognise the important progress made in recent decades in improving the status of women in Australia.

Reference

Gray, J (1997) The Historical and Cultural Background of selected Urban Parks in Canberra.