Should Cycling be allowed in the Botanic Gardens?

The Christchurch Botanic Gardens are the jewel in the crown that is our wonderful Hagley Park. On display there are a huge selection of interesting plants and flowers, both around the grounds and inside the numerous conservatories. When my kids were younger, the Gardens were also a great place to take the family, be it picnicking on the lawns or letting them loose in the playground.

What some people may not know is that cycling is actually banned within the gardens themselves (courtesy of the 2008 Council Parks and Reserves Bylaw). You either have to get off and park, or walk your bike if going through, or take one of the routes around the periphery. Personally this is most frustrating if visiting the new Ilex Visitors Centre, which is more than 200m away from the nearest (legitimate) bike parking; the ultimate irony was that some months ago the City Council undertook a big consultation meeting there about the Major Cycleways

No biking allowed here (c/ CCC)

I gather that a new “spatial planning” exercise for the Gardens is getting underway; no doubt in due course there will be some public consultation on the initial thoughts. The last review of the Botanic Gardens Management Plan was way back in 2007, and I note that this Plan doesn’t even mention cycling once. So, given the current interest in all things cycling in Christchurch, it’s probably worth reviewing how the Gardens fit into this.

So why the current restriction? In banning biking and some other things like playing sports and climbing trees (oops, our kids might have done that one…), the Council Bylaw notes that “the Botanic Gardens were established in 1863 and possess a collection of exotic and indigenous plants, many of which are rare, and, as such, require a higher degree of protection than other reserve areas”.

These vehicles are OK in the Gardens... (c/ CCC)
These vehicles are OK in the Gardens… (c/ CCC)

I can appreciate the thinking here; however, most of the plants that are of greatest concern are either protected in buildings or located well away from the main pathways. It’s interesting too that the current arrangement does allow some vehicles in the Gardens, in the form of guided tours on the “Caterpillar” electric vehicles.

Now obviously the Caterpillars don’t go making their way down every little gravel track in the Gardens. So what about just restricting the use of bicycles to just the main sealed paths in the Gardens? I’d have no real problem either with specifying a maximum speed limit (15 km/h?) and a requirement to give priority to pedestrians. The main path widths are all fairly generous anyway (typically at least 5m), so there isn’t likely to be major dramas as a result.

Pathways in the Gardens. Why not restrict bikes to the main paths?

The one part of the Gardens where you can legitimately ride a bike is to the south of the Avon River next to the Hospital; although at present there’s not a well formed cycling route throughout (although that hasn’t stopped us from using it before for the Winter Solstice Ride – hope to see you there on Tuesday!). A few years back, the District Health Board and the City Council did a land swap so that the Hospital had a better shaped piece of land for their current redevelopment. The net result is that Council now has most of the land by the river, and has more ability to create an upgraded pathway connection through here. This would avoid the current hassle for riders approaching town along the Riccarton Ave northside path whereby they either have to cross to the southside and back again or run the gauntlet of the non-existent on-road cycle lane to Oxford Tce. A path would still have to cross hospital land to access the bridge onto Rolleston Ave, but that should be less of an issue (at least CDHB are now aware of the potential desire line).

A new path around the back of the hospital could be a great connection to other cycling routes

We also have a number of other cycling connections of varying quality around the periphery of the Gardens that could also do with improvements. For example, as mentioned previously, the path in front of the Gardens on Rolleston Ave sees a lot of conflict between recreational and utility users. Accessing the Gardens from the north side by Lake Victoria also involves fairly rough roads or paths to get there. And, as always, a bit more bike parking at key locations would be welcomed (and well positioned – see photo).

Hard to access this bike parking when the car park is full…

The Botanic Gardens are an important treasure for the city, and also a well-loved walking environment. It’s important that we preserve it for future enjoyment. But, with careful controls in place, there’s no reason why it can’t also be a useful cycling link too.

Should biking provision in and around the Botanic Gardens be improved?

3 thoughts on “Should Cycling be allowed in the Botanic Gardens?”

  1. My ‘waka’ was the ‘Charlotte Jane’, 1850 and the ‘Canterbury’ 1875. Bias declared. At this point in the MCP I think that gaining as much support from the general populace as possible is essential for a successful roll out of the cycleway programme. As Cera/CCC found out very quickly when the plans for a revamped Victoria Square were released it doesn’t pay to mess too much with traditionalist thinking in Christchurch.
    I would fully support an improved facility to link Hagley Park with Rolleston Avenue by riding along the north side of the hospital and discussion for that right now is probably appropriate. Perhaps at some stage, even to entertain cycle access to a bike- parking area near the cafe. But anything else right now I suspect would potentially compromise the much needed goodwill ( aka fuelling the hatred ) toward the cycleway cause. The opposition would come from many people who like myself see that the Gardens are an historical sanctuary developed in the tradition of the great English gardens, to be enjoyed at leisure and without the nervousness of sharing with a fast moving transportation system.

  2. Agree cycling should be allowed on principal sealed paths. I understand these are classified as roads. Until recently people working on Caterpillar Tour had to have a full P licence.
    I have enjoyed cycling through Invercargill’s Botanic Gardens. Understand several Christchurch BG staff cycle to their workplace.

  3. I know this article is old, but commenting anyway.

    As a cyclist I am frequently abused by pedestrians and runners all the time.

    I think it is time to completely separate all pedestrians and cyclists in the entire Hagley Region.

    The Pedestrians have a sense of entitlement to all paths regardless of the status, they walk several abreast, in bunches and refuse to keep left etc. They don’t hear bells as they wear earbuds with blaring music. They walk their dogs on leashes right across the supposedly shared paths or not on leashes and running at your wheels.

    Complete segregation or the arresting of pedestrians would be the only way it will ever work.

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