AS communities prepare to mark one year since the horrific Hunter Valley bus crash, plans for a memorial garden have been unveiled.
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Cessnock City Council has started construction on a memorial garden dedicated to the victims of the June 11 crash, which killed 10 people.
The site chosen is one kilometre from the crash site, part-way along the Branxton to Greta Memorial Shared Pathway currently under construction.
Council issued a statement on Monday which said it had worked closely with families of the victims prior to locking in the design of "the space for remembrance and reflection".
The memorial garden will feature 10 deciduous Pyrus Calleryana trees, representing each life lost in the tragedy; Darcy Bulman, Rebecca Mullen, Zachary Bray, Tori Cowburn, Angus Craig, Kane Symons, mother and daughter Nadene and Kyah McBride, and husband and wife Andrew and Lynan Scott.
The garden will also include individual memorial plaques displaying wording provided by the families of the victims.
"The devastating crash had a profound impact on communities in our region and around the country," Cessnock mayor Jay Suvaal said.
"Council identified an opportunity to dedicate a site to establish a safe, peaceful and respectful memorial garden for the families of victims, residents and visitors to pay their respects, and has consulted with the families on the concept and design of this lasting tribute.
"A memorial plaque acknowledging the tragedy and the 10 lives lost will also be erected at the site of the crash on the Rothbury side of the Hunter Expressway."
Plans include low planted mounds and locally occurring native grasses, and a sandstone wall will formalise the edge of the memorial lawn, and seating will be provided beneath the shade of the commemorative trees.
The memorial garden, partly paid for by the state government, will be completed in time to acknowledge the one-year anniversary of the crash on June 11.
"Council is also working with the families to explore options for a significant memorial closer to the crash site in the future," a statement said.
This month the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions agreed to allow bus driver Brett Button to plead guilty to 10 charges of dangerous driving occasioning death instead of the manslaughter counts which had been levelled against him.
The decision to accept a plea deal with downgraded charges drew an angry response from some victims' families and some of the state's politicians.
