COLERAINE'S Peter Francis Arboretum has been buzzing with activity in the few months since its committee gained the right to independently manage it.

The barbecue area is now operational after several defunct years, working bees have taken place to clean the park and the committee is now encouraging visitors to come back and enjoy the arboretum like they used to.

“We have got a reasonable amount of money we have accumulated over the years and we want to spend our own money to bring it back better,” treasurer, John Kane said.

The committee has been seeking to independently manage the park for the last “five or six” years.

Typically, all decisions about maintaining the park go through Parks Victoria, but locals have long felt they could look after it much better if given agency to do so.

The election of a new committee last year led to conversations with senior representatives of Parks Victoria and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action in November.

“We put a strong case to Parks Victoria that we wanted to have our own committee of management,” he said.

“They agreed with our proposition and they told us there would be a new land management act coming into effect in probably 24 months’ time. They have allowed us in lots of ways to act as an independent committee of management until that act is passed by parliament.

“What that means is we will now be able to operate the arboretum by a local committee of management without always having to get the approval of Parks Victoria.”

As soon as they got permission, they got to work on a list of activities that has been laid out by the committee before them.

“We acknowledge the great work done by the previous committee, particularly in relation to forming a strategy plan for the future,” Mr Kane said.

“The new committee think that is a fantastic document.”

Now they have the permission to make all those dreams come true.

One decision the committee is considering is lopping back the trees at the lookout that block the view of the town.

The view was a famous aspect of the arboretum in decades past and the committee knows the trees have been cut back before, so will consider doing it again.

Mr Kane said the committee, currently at five members, has the potential to increase to 10 to 12 as action gathers momentum.

“We really just want to get on with it now,” he said.

“We want to bring back its former glory. It’s all positive and we are really looking forward to the future.”