By XAVIER SMERDON
THEY are small, wear red hats and can often be seen carrying a shovel over their shoulders, and Wyndham’s Mayor wants to use them to bring more tourists to the area.
Mayor Heather Marcus told Star last week that she wanted to establish a public gnome garden in Wyndham to help boost the local economy.
“My dream is to have a gnome garden as a tourist attraction in the City of Wyndham and a lot of people I have spoken to think it’s a great idea,” Cr Marcus said.
“I was brought up on fairytales and it gave me a wonderful sense of adventure and I really just want to generate that feeling in the community.”
Cr Marcus has exactly 60 gnomes in her own garden and she said with the help of her grandsons, Cooper and Spencer, she regularly paints them and makes up stories about them.
“Some people think they’re a little bit scary and some people think they’re quirky but I just think they’re wonderful,” she said.
“They’ve got their own wonderful personalities and they’re all entirely different.
“Whenever we choose a new one we always make sure it’s got something special about it.”
Cr Marcus said she wanted to emulate other gnome gardens like one in the Ferguson Valley of Western Australia that has become a main attraction in the town.
“I have spoken to Bunnings and they thought it would be something they would be interested in,” she said.
“I think it would be great to let the youth take this over and let it be their garden so we can instil that sense of community.”
Cr Marcus said she believed the garden might need to be locked up at night to avoid vandalism.
