HANSARD
SITTING CALENDAR
SEARCH
LIVE BROADCAST
Hansard Dynamic Subject Index
House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-07-31 Daily Xml
Contents
Pdf Xml

Adelaide Botanic Garden Night Lighting

Ms HABIB (Elder) (14:58): My question is to the Minister for Environment and Water. Can the minister update the house on the Botanic Garden night lighting pilot that was recently held and the opportunities that this provides for the Botanic Gardens?

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Minister for Environment and Water) (14:59): I thank the member for Elder for that question. Last Thursday evening, I had the pleasure of attending an event as a guest of the board of the Adelaide Botanic Garden to look at a new project, which is the first stage of the lighting of certain components of the Botanic Garden. That lighting is designed to create an avenue of lighting through a range of very significant trees in the garden and is the first stage of bringing the gardens to life at night, not only from a safety point of view and to create passive surveillance opportunities for the garden but also to look at ways to activate the night-time economy within the Botanic Garden, and particularly in the East End of the city, because we know that, with the closure of the old Royal Adelaide Hospital last year, there has been a significant move of people away from the East End of the city, and there is a need to look for opportunities to stimulate the East End of the city and the economy there wherever possible.

The Botanic Garden, being a large government-controlled landholding in the East End of the city, has a great opportunity to trigger activity for the night-time economy in that part of the city. I look forward to working with the Board of the Botanic Gardens, the management led by the very well-renowned botanist Dr Lucy Sutherland, and being able to work alongside that group of people as we establish a strategy to activate the Botanic Garden of Adelaide into the evening.

The lighting, which was donated through a range of organisations which have a long-term commitment to supporting the Botanic Garden, is the first step in being able to draw people into the gardens, and we look forward to developing that over the coming months and years. It is the first stage of what will be a large and quite expensive project, totalling up to $6 million, but the Botanic Gardens is planning for that and looking for ways to fundraise for that project to continue.

With the redevelopment of the old Royal Adelaide Hospital on the edge of the Botanic Garden there is a real opportunity for the state government to look at ways to link the old Royal Adelaide Hospital site and the redevelopment and activation of that site with the Botanic Garden. We should not underestimate the value that the Botanic Garden has in terms of lifting the overall quality of that redeveloped open space.

As that project develops, I look forward, as the minister with responsibility for the Botanic Gardens, to being able to work alongside the various other ministers and the Premier who have responsibility for the old Royal Adelaide Hospital site. I look forward to being able to work closely with them as we maximise the opportunities for our Botanic Gardens. We know that garden tourism is such a significant drawcard for people to visit particular places across the world, and we should never underestimate the value of our gardens, whether it is the Botanic Garden in Adelaide, whether it is the Wittunga Botanic Garden in the member for Waite's electorate or the Mount Lofty Botanic Garden, which I think is in the member for Heysen's electorate, in the Hills, or somewhere near the boundary.

Our gardens in this state have a huge amount to offer. They are run well by the management of the botanic gardens. It has been great getting to know the Board of the Botanic Gardens in the short time that I have been minister, and I do look forward to updating the house on the various opportunities we have to maximise what those gardens bring to our state.

PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS
MEMBERS
GET INVOLVED
ABOUT PARLIAMENT
VISIT
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
CONTACT