Close to $140,000 will be spent on major improvements to Beechworth’s Queen Victoria Park Gardens thanks to Council securing funding under the Growing Victoria’s Botanic Gardens grants program.
A grant of $139,422 has been awarded to Council for a conservation, enhancement and education program that will achieve a major rejuvenation of this significant 19thCentury botanic garden.
Projects will include an upgrade of the path network to improve accessibility, installation of solar lights, planting of rare specimen trees, conservation and interpretation of a historic granite quarry and remnant indigenous forest vegetation within the gardens, installation of interpretive signs and provision of new picnic facilities to improve park infrastructure and visitor experience.
Established in 1862, the gardens feature open park and formal landscaping, many rare and significant conifers, a rotunda and stone picnic shelter, a large granite outcrop and an area of indigenous vegetation.
Mayor Jenny O’Connor says the upgrade will improve both the scientific, education and heritage values of the garden, while the upgraded paths, lighting and picnic areas will improve visitor amenity.
She says staff from across multiple departments worked on the grant application and Council’s success in securing the funds is the result of an excellent team effort.
The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) is delivering the grants program to assist botanic garden managers to adapt to climate change, maintain valuable plant collections, improve amenities for the community and support local tourism development.
