Thank you to everyone who gave feedback on the Botanic Garden Draft Masterplan 2025.

Overall, the feedback was overwhelmingly supportive of the draft Masterplan’s intent, with strong community appreciation for the Garden as a valued public asset. The feedback reflects deep community ownership of the Garden. Many submissions were well-informed and highly detailed – covering many aspects of the plan with great detail, referencing past plans, giving architectural proposals, and acknowledging operational realities.

We heard clear and consistent advocacy for several key improvements, particularly around visitor amenities, accessibility, and cultural inclusion. There was also a clear desire for a long-term vision, especially regarding infrastructure investment and prioritisation.

Here's a summary of the engagement findings:

Visitor Centre & Café

• Strong support for a purpose-built, integrated facility near Murphy’s Avenue.
• Cratloe Cottage widely viewed as unsuitable due to accessibility and heritage concerns.
• Calls for prioritisation and feasibility studies.

Toilet Facilities

• Existing amenities seen as inadequate.
• Preference for integration with visitor centre rather than standalone blocks.

Accessibility & Parking

• Requests for improved pedestrian access, expanded parking, and better bike facilities.

Playground & Family Facilities

• Desire for inclusive, modern play equipment and shaded seating.

Mercury Five Islands Fountain

• Mixed views: many advocating for restoration; others expressing sustainability concerns.

Heritage & Cultural Inclusion

• Strong support for Gleniffer Brae conservation and activation.
• Calls for greater visibility of Aboriginal culture through signage, gardens, and programming.

Environmental & Educational Enhancements

• Support for propagation glasshouse upgrades, Bushcare initiatives, and educational programming.
• Suggestions for music events, workshops, and community gardening.

Tourism Strategy

• Noted absence of a formal strategy - recommended integration with Destination Wollongong.

If you would like to find out more on what the community said regarding this project, you can review the Engagement Report.

Next steps

Your feedback is important and is one factor of the decision-making process for Council. There is a whole range of things that are important in how we make a decision. The graphic below shows some of the factors we consider in our decision making:

A post-exhibition report will go before Council at their meeting on Monday 17 November 2025. Read more in the News Feed article about the Council Report.