Project envisions Gardens’ future

A FIFTY-eight-page report exploring the Buninyong Botanic Gardens’ past and future, was released on Friday, 25 June.

Commissioned by the Friends of Buninyong Botanic Gardens, Project Botanica was workshopped and written over six months in partnership with the RMIT University School of Architecture and Design, and its students.

The report got its official launch at the Buninyong Bowling Club with a community conversation exploring contemporary perspectives on the purposes of old, new, international, and local botanic gardens.

RMIT Bachelor of Landscape Architectural Design program manager Jock Gilbert, and FBBG patron and CEO of Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria Dr Tim Entwisle presented to 65 people; FBBG members, Buninyong residents and City of Ballarat representatives.

Dr Entwisle said historic green spaces like Buninyong’s are significant assets.

“The definition of a contemporary botanic garden may simply be that it is an entity with a purpose,” he said.

“It has the opportunity to respond to, reflect and project the culture, community, history, heritage and environment of its location and broader regional context.”

FBBG president Roger Permezel hopes the document will inform the City of Ballarat’s long-term approach to the Buninyong Botanic Gardens.

“Whilst Project Botanica is not ‘the’ vision for the Botanic Gardens masterplan, it was commissioned by [us] as a practical exercise, to illustrate, for the benefit of both community and council, how we could arrive at a mutually agreeable vision to drive the masterplan,” he said.

“The quality of the students’ work is equal to what you’d get in a proper urban planning firm.

“It is hoped that council will provide the opportunity for a comprehensive community-driven visioning process, and the Project Botanica report should be included in the mix for consideration.”

Mr Gilbert is not only an academic and “green infrastructure” expert, but a passionate Buninyong resident who said “ambition” will be key to the success of the master plan, and this report.

“The process itself should be inclusive, visionary… Projects of this nature allow, and demand, both amplification and reduction of established narratives, institutions and entities,” he said.

The City of Ballarat will host a Buninyong Botanic Gardens community feedback drop-in session at the Buninyong Town Hall from 3pm to 7pm on Thursday, 15 July.

Contact 0419 007 773 to access a copy of the Project Botanica report.