The Deloraine probation station, which operated from 1843 to 1847, will be remembered through interpretative signage located at the car park.

The site will be renamed the Probation Station Reserve.

Meander Valley Council archaeological consultant Jane Becker said the reserve would inform the public of its history.

Mrs Becker said probation stations were located across Tasmania, and were the first port of call for male convicts arriving in the region.

She said men were housed at the stations, which existed at Deloraine, Westbury and Kimberley, and put to work building public infrastructure.

Stations replaced the system of assigning convicts to landowners.

``If you were assigned to a decent person your life could be quite good, but if you were assigned to a rat, life could be miserable,'' Mrs Becker said.

She said the stations were fairer systems that rewarded good behaviour.

``The idea was that if you came and behaved yourself, you could work your way up (from level 3) to level 2 and 1. Once you reached level 1 you could hire yourself out as hired labour,'' she said.

But the stations failed ``miserably''.

``There was a high level of corruption . . . convicts and guards were in it together, to rip off the government and sell items on the black market,'' she said.

A community meeting held this month discussed what historical information should be used and how it should be presented.

This included how the barracks were built by local farmers, the role of probation stations and taking individual convicts and telling their stories.

Crockery collected in the archaeological dig before the car park's construction will be housed at the Deloraine and District Folk Museum.

Further community participation may occur in the form of students taking part in creative writing exercises based on probation station history.