Review of the Mount Lofty Botanic Garden Masterplan

Consultation has concluded

Consultation Process

Now Closed

This online engagement was hosted on YourSAy from 10 December 2019 to 14 February 2020. Below is a record of the engagement.

How can we enhance your experience and the amenities at the Mount Lofty Botanic Garden?

What’s being decided?

We are looking for your feedback on how to improve your experience and the amenities at the Mount Lofty Botanic Garden while maintaining a site for horticultural excellence in growing, displaying and conserving plants.

Our proposed changes to the current Masterplan for the Mount Lofty Botanic Garden, which will help guide future investment in the site

Consultation Process

Now Closed

This online engagement was hosted on YourSAy from 10 December 2019 to 14 February 2020. Below is a record of the engagement.

How can we enhance your experience and the amenities at the Mount Lofty Botanic Garden?

What’s being decided?

We are looking for your feedback on how to improve your experience and the amenities at the Mount Lofty Botanic Garden while maintaining a site for horticultural excellence in growing, displaying and conserving plants.

Our proposed changes to the current Masterplan for the Mount Lofty Botanic Garden, which will help guide future investment in the site, include:

  • A new visitor and educational hub
  • Additional on-site and overflow car parking, new public toilets, drinking fountains
  • Improved way-finding signage
  • A new horticulture and conservation hub
  • Upgraded walking trails

Read more about the proposed changes and view a map showing potential locations.

Get involved

To help you get involved and have your say we have prepared the following resources:

  • A flyer including a map of the Mount Lofty Botanic Garden that shows existing trails and amenities, and the potential locations for proposed developments
  • Frequently asked questions
  • Proposed changes and a view map

To have your say:

  • Complete the online survey
  • Join the online discussion
  • Come along to the Garden Open Days

How can your input influence the decision?

Your input on the proposed changes will help shape the Mount Lofty Botanic Garden Masterplan, which will guide future development in the garden.

What are the next steps?

A consultation report will be developed and published on this site in early 2020 to let you know what we heard, and how your views helped shape the revised Mount Lofty Botanic Garden Masterplan.

The draft revised Masterplan will be considered and endorsed by the Board of the Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium in mid-2020.

Contact details

For more information contact:

Mount Lofty Botanic Garden engagement team
P: 8222 9311
E: botanicgardens@sa.gov.au

Closing date: 5pm, Friday 14 February 2020




Background

Now Closed

This online engagement was hosted on YourSAy from 10 December 2019 to 14 February 2020.  Below is a record of the engagement.

First opened in 1977, Mount Lofty Botanic Garden is situated on the eastern slopes of Mount Lofty in the Adelaide Hills, east of Adelaide. The botanic garden is dedicated to the cultivation and display of the world’s cool-climate plants, which thrive in the Adelaide Hills.

It’s a much-loved botanic garden destination where people, plants and biodiversity come together. It’s popular throughout the year and draws large crowds for its stunning springtime floral display and breathtaking autumn colours.

The original Masterplan for the garden was developed in 2006.

The community is now being asked what they would like to see in the botanic garden in the future – this information will be used to develop a revised and updated Masterplan for the garden.

A number of ideas have been put forward for discussion. The proposed concepts are designed to enhance the access and experience for visitors, whilst maintaining, protecting and enabling the activation of the garden, its collections of plants and its biodiversity for current and future generations.

Read more about the proposed changes.


Consultation has concluded
  • Garden Aerial Overview

    Now Closed

    This online engagement was hosted on YourSAy from 10 December 2019 to 14 February 2020. Below is a record of the engagement.

    An aerial overview of the Mount Lofty Botanic Garden in fall, 2017.


  • Proposed changes

    Now Closed

    This online engagement was hosted on YourSAy from 10 December 2019 to 14 February 2020. Below is a record of the engagement.

    The proposed concepts are designed to enhance the access and experience for visitors, whilst maintaining, protecting and enabling the activation of the garden, its collections of plants and its biodiversity for current and future generations.

    New visitor centre

    A new visitor centre is proposed near the current viewing platform which overlooks the arboretum (near the lower car park, off Lampert Road). It would provide a unique area for visitors to find out more about the garden and to plan their visit. A proposed café with seating, a roof-top viewing area, toilets and a merchandise shop would make this a vibrant all-weather hub for visitors.

    Additional parking

    On particularly busy days, finding a car park can be a problem for visitors to Mount Lofty Botanic Garden. Now is the time to plan for additional car parking, which could include a combination of re-purposing of current staff car parking and using already owned board land on the estate, which is currently vacant and under-utilised.

    Improved way-finding signage

    Clearer and improved signage to and throughout the botanic garden will keep visitors informed about their location and provide orientation. The garden has some very steep paths and gullies so new maps and sign infrastructure would illustrate the topography of the garden estate, trails and gullies and assist visitors to choose a suitable route for their visit. In addition, new public toilets and undercover shelter areas are also proposed.

    A new horticulture and conservation hub

    A new relocated eco-friendly solar powered single storey depot is proposed to replace the current staff administration building and nursery building. This nursery is where plants are grown for all three botanic gardens (Adelaide, Mount Lofty and Wittunga) and for other horticultural and conservation operations and state projects. This proposed exciting new space could also be used as a learning centre for public workshops, school groups and horticultural trainees, and would be designed to provide a place of refuge in local emergencies such as bushfires.

    Upgraded walking trails

    Walking and hiking trails are an important attraction for many visitors to this botanic garden. The proposed concepts include trail upgrades to enable the public to safely and more easily access the collections and attractions, while also improving internal roads for staff access to tend to the plant collections. The trails on-site are below standard and some linkages are currently closed while awaiting repair post storm damage. Links through the native forest and to sections of the Heysen Trial are also awaiting repair.

    In addition to these proposals, enhanced interpretation will be installed across the garden to explain the nature, origin, and purpose of plants in the collection. Visitors will be able to learn more about the diversity of the collection and its conservation status.

    If included in the finalised revised Masterplan document, these proposed concepts will enable the botanic garden to meet the needs of visitors coming solely to the garden, as well as those visiting other attractions throughout the Mount Lofty Precinct. The garden is a vital link in the nature-based tourist route through the Adelaide Hills, including forming part of the Heysen Trail, and offering unique experiences for both regular and new visitors alike.

    The below map shows potential locations for the visitor centre, horticulture and conservation hub, and new visitor car-parking.


  • Updates

    Masterplan released

    Mount Lofty Botanic Garden Masterplan has been released.