Hurlstone Agricultural College Memorial ForestPrint Page

The memorial forest was planted in memory of 600 ex-students who served in World War One and World War Two. 

The New South Wales Government in 2008 proposed the sale of 135 hectares of the school’s 160ha of land which included the memorial forest. Following an outcry by students and the public the Government backed down. In 2015, the State Government announced plans to sell off the forest. In 2016 after community backlash, the State Government announced that any development would have to be constructed around the forest. 

A Memorial Forest and Cairn, will be dedicated, on Saturday, 27th May, to the memory of those students of Hurlstone Agricultural High School who served in "World Wars 1 and 11."  The Department of Education, the Principal, Staff, and students at the High School have co-operated in setting aside about four acres of land for the Memorial Forest and Cairn. A tree will be planted in memory of each student who enlisted; and it will be planted by himself, or his parents, or by a present scholar. It is intended that the Memorial Forest of flowering gum trees will be a living and growing memory of those students who served as protectors of their country. The Cairn will stand in a cleared circle among the trees, and here many of the school functions of the future will be held. 
Daily Examiner (Grafton, NSW ), 18 May 1950.

One of the Macarthur region’s sacred war memorial sites could be facing the bulldozer. The Hurlstone Agricultural College memorial forest, believed to be Australia’s first “living” war memorial, is facing the chop after the State Government announced plans to sell-off the 140ha Glenfield school site for housing. The memorial forest, established in 1950, commemorates the 600 Hurlstone students who served in World Wars One and Two including Victoria Cross recipient John Edmondson.

In a slap in the face to school’s veterans, the Education Department has revealed the memorial forest will be “recreated” on the new site of the high school, which will move to Western Sydney University’s Hawkesbury campus in 2020. Ingleburn RSL sub-branch president Ray James called for the memorial forest to be retained. “There has been no consultation with local government and the RSL,” he said.
Daily Telegraph, Macarthur, 30 November 2015. 

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