A memorial garden will be prepared in time to mark next month’s first anniversary of the Hunter Valley wedding bus tragedy that claimed the lives people.
The site, on the Branxton-Greta cycleway, has been finalised and work is underway to have the memorial completed by June 11.
Cessnock Mayor Jay Suvaal said the council has been working with Transport NSW to select an appropriate site.
He said while some of the victims’ loved ones wanted the memorial to be constructed at the crash location, a spot had to be chosen that allow families to safely pay their respects.
“(The memorial) is less than a kilometre from where the (crash) was .. (and) we had to make sure it was a safe place for people to come to be able to access and then ay their respects,” Cr Suvaal said.
10 people died and 25 were injured when a bus carrying wedding guests from the Wandin Valley Estate to Singleton slammed into a guard rail and rolled after exiting a roundabout on the night of June 11, 2023.
Bus driver Brett Button, 59, is facing a total of 89 charges including 10 of manslaughter and 16 of causing bodily harm.
The case is currently before the courts.
