Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Concept for park revealed

By John Cousins
Bay of Plenty Times·
17 Jun, 2014 11:41 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The concept plan for the Sydenham Botanic Park next to the Brookfield Primary School. Image/supplied

The concept plan for the Sydenham Botanic Park next to the Brookfield Primary School. Image/supplied

A lanscape concept plan has been unveiled for Tauranga's unofficial botanical gardens in Brookfield featuring a mix of lawns, paths and theme plantings.

The Sydenham Botanical Park in Millers Rd was already home to an internationally recognised collection of the primitive Gondwana ancestry araucaria trees of which the New Zealand kauri was the most southern species.

Progress with establishing the botanical park was outlined to the Tauranga City Council yesterday by Brian Hodge, a member of the Sydenham Park Advisory Group.

The 3-hectare property owned by the New Zealand Guardian Trust was bequeathed by the late Frank Sydenham to be developed into a botanic park.

Mr Hodge said the park would become an urban oasis for people to stroll through. The concept plan was a simplified version of the original 2006 plan that fitted the ability of volunteers. A big task for volunteers would be tidying the lower southern area of the park where the swampy terrain would be developed into a pond ringed by native plantings.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Mr Hodge said they were in the process of installing benches and seats. A small carpark was planned for the north-western end of the park next to Brookfield Primary School.

Tauranga City Council paid $20,000 a year to maintain the park but has left the big job of establishing and funding the gardens in the hands of volunteers. A Sydenham Botanic Park Funding Trust was also established in 2012.

Before the death of Mr Sydenham in 1973, the land was used as gardens for farm and horticultural cadets and secondary school students who studied the propagation of subtropical plants. Bay of Plenty Polytechnic students later trained there and when it was no longer required for educational purposes it was passed to the council to develop a botanic park "for the enjoyment and benefit of the citizens of Tauranga".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

'The man I once trusted violently raped me': Man jailed for attacking ex-wife next to sleeping child

07 Jul 08:00 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Do it now, run him over'. Teen who ran over mother's partner twice can finally be named

07 Jul 07:00 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

Hunter who feeds the hungry named Volunteer of the Year

07 Jul 06:56 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

'The man I once trusted violently raped me': Man jailed for attacking ex-wife next to sleeping child

'The man I once trusted violently raped me': Man jailed for attacking ex-wife next to sleeping child

07 Jul 08:00 AM

The man apologised to his victim, but pleaded not guilty.

'Do it now, run him over'. Teen who ran over mother's partner twice can finally be named

'Do it now, run him over'. Teen who ran over mother's partner twice can finally be named

07 Jul 07:00 AM
Hunter who feeds the hungry named Volunteer of the Year

Hunter who feeds the hungry named Volunteer of the Year

07 Jul 06:56 AM
Downhill mountain bikers impress on world stage

Downhill mountain bikers impress on world stage

07 Jul 06:38 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP