Don Jackson Reserve

No signage at Reserve when surveyed.

Don Jackson commenced work with the then Shire of Berwick at age 17 on 2 January 1948.   He retired from, the then Shire of Cardinia on 15 July, 1994. Thus his involvement with Local Government in the area was for 46 ½ years.

He started as a Cadet Engineer (salary $4 per week), and worked his way up to being Senior Assistant Engineer, responsible for many surveys and designs of roads and bridges throughout the Shire. In addition, his work involved liaison with various government organisations, such as the Country Roads Board, State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, and he represented Council on many matters.    However as it became evident that future planning of the shire was becoming more and more important, he became more  and more involved in town planning, initially under the direction of the Shire Engineer.

 Don represented Council before the various Town Planning Tribunals and was responsible for reporting and recommending to Council on development applications  as he rose through the planning department to eventually become the Town Planner for the Shire, but as retirement was coming closer, he stepped down from that position in 1993 to that of Executive Assistant to the Shire’s Management Group.

He saw the Shire change radically over the years, and through three changes of the municipal area.   The first was in 1972, when the then Doveton and Berwick Ridings of the Shire seceded to form the City of Berwick, leaving the Berwick Shire with the original Pakenham, Beaconsfield and Iona Ridings. In 1973, the Shire of Berwick changed its name to Shire of Pakenham.

Then in 1993 the Victorian Government directed a major restructuring of municipalities, and thus was created the Shire of Cardinia. So major was the restructuring that it reduced the number of  Councils in Victoria from 211 to less than 80.

On his retirement, he was presented with a letter under seal of Council commending and thanking him for his dedicated service, and honoured by the formal naming of a recreation reserve off Ahern Road in Pakenham as the Don Jackson Reserve.
*although there was no signage at the time we visited, we were lucky to be contacted by Don a few years after our post was published. Don provided us with the above information and the photo from the Pakenham Gazette and we thank him for his interest in our work.