New Dunedin Botanic Garden Playground

The Friends of the Dunedin Botanic Garden and the Dunedin City Council are excited to announce a significant upgrade of the children’s playground area, which will replace the existing equipment that was installed in the 1980s.

The new playground is designed to encourage natural play, with a focus on connecting children with nature and the forest. Features of the playground include swings, carousel, observatory platform and a slide. It is also designed to be inclusive for children of all abilities with a wheelchair-accessible ramp up to the observatory platform and a dedicated wheelchair trampoline being included in the play area. Aukaha have also been engaged to provide a mana whenua perspective and design that is being incorporated throughout the area.

At the centre of the playground is a bespoke climbing frame for which the Friends have provided a donation towards. This climbing frame will provide a unique opportunity for children to explore and play. The funds for this climbing frame have been raised over several years through donations, plant sales, and purchases at the Information Centre. The committee feels that this project fits well within the aims and objectives of the Friends of the Dunedin Botanic Garden when the society was incorporated in 1986:

• to foster interest in the Dunedin Botanic Garden
• to promote the development of the Garden
• to raise funds for approved purposes
• to preserve the integrity of the Dunedin Botanic Garden

The upgrade work is scheduled to begin on 29 July, the start of term three, with the intention to open in time for the following school holidays, which begin on 28 September.

Keep an eye out for more information that will be released by the Dunedin City Council, but if you have any questions about the playground development, please feel free to contact friends@friendsdbg.co.nz and we can pass these on. The Friends are very excited to be supporting this major Botanic Garden development and look forward to welcoming families from far and wide when it opens in September.

Sam Moncur
President, Friends of the Dunedin Botanic Garden