Media Centre

How it all began – History of The Green

It was 10 o’clock on Saturday morning November 3, 1979. For the Sarah family of Canberra, this was no ordinary Saturday morning – it was life-changing. The extent of that change was unknown. It was unknown as to the success or otherwise of the new venture they were just about to embark upon.

Counting the Pennies

Having a dream is one thing, affording the dream is another. The business pavement is littered with unfunded or under-funded dreams. The reality is that the enthusiasm of a business idea is often not matched with the personal means to give life to the dream, or the pitch to potential dream funders is not met with the same enthusiasm as the dream’s creator.

Fortunately for Canberra and Australia, the dream of Doug and Brenda Sarah is not lying on the business pavement of littered broken dreams. The Cockington Green dream survived through sheer hard work, lots of heartache, dogged perseverance and a strong belief. And yes, it was always a matter of counting the pennies to make sure it ticked off the goals along the way.

Early days promoting Canberra and the Green

Local ABC radio identity and well-known Canberran, Greg Bayliss was one of the pioneers of Canberra’s domestic tourism push. As an industry insider, Greg understood just how hard it was to front up and encourage domestic tourism operators to direct visitors towards Canberra. Countless days and long nights were spent attending industry events, running stands at shopping centres, visiting wholesalers, coach companies, travel agents and motoring organizations.

From Great Britain to the World – Anna’s Story

The theme of the Cockington Green story is people. So many have contributed to its success in so many ways. Some of the people picked themselves, others encountered the business in such an unexpected way. Anna’s story fits the latter category and Cockington Green has been a very fortunate beneficiary from this wonderful relationship.

A large part of the original display featured a lake serving as a back-up water supply for the gardens. With good town water supply and a bore, it was no longer considered essential to devote such a sizeable tract of land to a lake. The proximity of Embassies and High Commissions in Canberra provided the idea for expanding the display. Partnerships with represented countries to showcase their architecture, heritage and culture became possible.

From No to Go – Finding a home for Cockington Green

The Cockington Green story is bound together by an eclectic group of people, many unknown to each other. This eclectic group of people are from different professions and backgrounds, many with unrelated skills sets but all critical to the fabric of Cockington Green.