A new tractor purchased with a $32,000 Community Building Partnership grant will 'revolutionise' operations according to the Southern Highlands Botanic Gardens (SHBG).
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The Gardens received the funding from the grant scheme with Wollondilly MP Nathaniel Smith on hand to see the new tractor on Tuesday.
SHBG Chairman and CEO Charlotte Webb OAM said the new addition will cut work times dramatically and increase possibilities for the Garden.
"It's going to revolutionise the work that volunteers do," she told the Southern Highland News.
"It's almost able to bring us out of an almost third world practice right now where everything is done by hand with shovels and wheelbarrows, back and forth.
"It takes about five minutes to get from the mulch pile to the garden beds. The tractor will be able to load and unload the truck so we can use that instead.
"Anything that introduces mechanism is a real blessing."
Director Lyn Collingridge said with such an elderly volunteer base, the tractor was a 'groundbreaking' arrival.
"Most of our volunteers are quite elderly so even being able to move mulch around [helps] because at the moment they have to use a wheelbarrow," she explained.
"Volunteers are the major workforce here, they are here every week and they pretty much built most of this garden. Any help for them is groundbreaking really."
The work isn't finished however with the Garden still needing a permanent space to house the tractor with members of Friends of SHBG wasting no time in letting Mr Smith know.
"We've had a couple of these grants before," Ms Collingridge said.
"We had a garden stone wall put in a few years ago and we have one application in now for the shed house the tractor and truck."
SHBG is open 9am to 5pm every day.
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