Labor announces $500,000 commitment to the Southern Highlands Botanic Gardens for education centre

The Labor government has announced a $500,000 commitment to the Southern Highlands Botanic Gardens to establish a multi-use education centre.

The Labor government has announced a $500,000 commitment to the Southern Highlands Botanic Gardens to establish a multi-use education centre.

The garden’s volunteer-run organisation launched in 2010 to provide a botanic experience in Bowral that showcases flora across distinct seasons in a cool climate where water resources are increasingly scarce.

Whitlam MP Stephen Jones has called the commitment a “big win for the Southern Highlands”.

“The Southern Highlands Botanic Gardens are a fantastic local volunteer-run institution, with a vision to educate and inform people about the rich botanic heritage of the area,” Mr Jones said.

“I am proud to secure this support for my local community.”

Federal member for Whitlam, Stephen Jones, chatting to the Southern Highlands Botanic Gardens team as well as the wider community.

Mr Jones has been a significant supporter of the organisation since its launch, having planted the last foundation tree on the Garden’s Foundation Walk.

If the initiative comes to fruition, the education centre would also provide space for community uses and small events.

The volunteers at the Southern Highlands Botanic Gardens will be honouring the contributions to botany of Louisa Atkinson, a Southern Highlands collector who lived in the area in the 1800s, and Janet Cosh, who provided the funding to establish the herbarium at the Wollongong Botanic Gardens.