The intention is to reroute Lovelock Ave along the side of the Northern Cemetery ($1 million) and to build propagation glasshouses, nursery and work areas on a new site at the top boundary of the garden ($5 million).
The present propagation glasshouses are considered to be ‘‘decrepit'' and the complex, begun in the mid-1920s but added to over the years, was ‘‘ill equipped'' for modern purposes.
Botanic garden team leader Alan Matchett said improvements planned in 1991 were now almost complete. Four years ago, staff began planning the next stage of development.
Buildings needed to be more modern, and a landscape architect had identified areas of the garden that were ‘‘a bit weak in design element'' and considered the propagation facility was not well sited.
‘‘You've actually got to walk around it to get to places and, of course, you've got service vehicles coming into the buildings, it's a work area, we've got chemical storage and those sorts of things as well.''
The Opoho Bowling Club would not be affected by the new development, he said. The future of the club would be decided on other issues.
The glasshouses contain many of the garden's plants that are not on display and it is planned to allow public access to part of the new facility on its new site.
‘‘We certainly want to increase the public interaction in that area . . . It's always a mystery what happens in these places.''
Moving the glasshouses led to the plan to realign Lovelock Ave, which winds through the gardens.
This would allow more space for the rhododendron dell and the realignment should also help overcome a theft problem. The garden has lost plants in the past, with drivers able to park easily near the dell.
‘‘It [the new alignment] is just not as handy. People could be seen by others with plants, or their wheelbarrow or whatever.''
Shifting the road would also improve safety for people entering the top part of the gardens and a new entranceway gate was planned.
Mr Matchett was well aware of public interest in any change to the garden - which was particularly noticeable when a larger tree needed to be felled.
‘‘They become part of the landscape and that's when you can run into issues when you try and remove plants. People become used to them and recognise them as part of the environment.''
Mr Matchett likened the plant collections to museum displays. "We have to make sure we continue to renew those displays . . . there are trees that would grow, as they mature, into huge specimens, but that's not their purpose in that collection.''
The garden's collections include plants from north Asia, North America, South America, Mexico, Australia, southern Africa, the Himalayas and New Zealand.
Also contained in the garden strategy are proposals for a ‘‘tropical house'', new visitor facilities, a waterfall garden, new alpine house and a new children's play area.
Development plans for the botanic garden will be explained at two public meetings at the garden centre in Lovelock Ave at 4pm on March 16 and 7pm on March 19.
