COBRAM is joining the ranks of towns with ‘big things’ after a plan for a five-metre tall metal peach won official approval.
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The $50,000 landmark, featuring a cross-section of the stone fruit of the area, is designed to draw more tourists to the Murray River town.
It is the baby of the Cobram Barooga Business and Tourism with board member Cath Noonan saying it had been planned for two years.
“It’s not a fibreglass monstrosity,” Mrs Noonan said.
“It’s going to be a well-done executed structure, a sculpture really.
“We’re hoping people will stop and have a photograph with it and explore it.”
The peach will be installed in Federation Park and be visible from the Murray Valley Highway.
“We would love to have it finished before our River Beaches Festival that we have every year at Easter,” Mrs Noonan said.
“We’re not 100 per cent on that, the reality is it is more likely to be June-July, but we will try for Easter.”
Moira Council has authorised the giant peach after contributing $10,000 towards concept plans, soil reports and a structural engineering assessment.
Mayor Gary Cleveland, a Cobram resident, is excited about the peach.
“We’ve supported it unanimously, so obviously we certainly think it’s a great idea,” Cr Cleveland said.
“It’s not just a fibreglass thing….it will take people’s eyes because it’s a piece of art.”
However, not all residents are as upbeat with many critical comments in an online survey conducted by the business and tourism group.
“A peach in a paddock is not appealing – turn a playground into a peach which kids can play in,” one commented.
Another wrote: “How is a peach going to bring money to Cobram? How is a peach going to keep young children entertained? Total waste of money.”
Several called for a splash park to be built instead, while others wanted more bicycle tracks.
The big peach will not be the only oversized item of fruit in the district.
A little over 10 kilometres north at Koonoomoo is the the strawberry which opened in 2005.
Other big pieces of fruit around Australia include the big banana at Coffs Harbour, pineapple on the Sunshine Coast, apple at Batlow, cherries at Young and orange in South Australia’s Riverland.
