Hamilton Gardens

Those councillors who voted for a $10 charge to be applied to Hamilton Gardens, for the history of garden design enclosed section only, did the right thing.

I take visitors to these gardens regularly and increasingly there are busloads of tourists there, having a wonderful experience – for which the tour company would certainly have charged them.

Hamilton has been too slow to capitalise on these outstanding gardens, and generate some well-deserved income from visitors, who are not Hamilton residents. To my knowledge there are no other public gardens, of this quality, in the many countries I have been to, that do not charge: Kew Gardens London $25, Edinburgh Botanical Gardens $13, Herrenhauser Hannover $11, Royal Botanical Gardens Ontario Canada $16, Chinese Garden Sydney $6, Singapore Botanic Gardens $5, Boboli Gardens Florence $16, Royal Gardens Cordoba Spain $12. Need I say more. Those councillors who voted against the charge need to have a rethink and find out what is going on in the wider world. As Hamilton residents are paying a rates surcharge, for the further development of the specialty gardens, they should be exempt from this charge. This sort of concession for locals is quite common in cities everywhere for many of their public facilities. For those who have said to me they will not now take their visitors to the gardens because of the charge, I say – you will probably buy them a flat white and cake – $10 is no more than that. Get a perspective.

Once again, well done Mayor Andrew King.

Russell O Armitage

Hamilton