7. SITE DEVELOPMENT AND SERVICES

The Gardens aims to operate in an environmentally friendly manner, adopting practices to minimise waste, conserve water and energy, and maximise reuse and recycling of materials. Environmentally sound work practices are and will continue to be promoted in all areas of the Gardens' activities and staff are encouraged to contribute to and participate in the development of policies to improve these practices. Visitors and others using the Gardens are also encouraged to adopt similar practices. Future developments at the Gardens will be planned and designed to best implement these aims.

Implementation of the management prescriptions detailed in the preceding chapters will necessitate significant development of the physical infrastructure at the Gardens sites. It is vital that this development be planned and designed to achieve greater unity of style and to enhance the Gardens' character and its heritage and national estate values. The high quality landscape setting and the high degree of technical achievement in the establishment and construction of the Gardens in Canberra are significant attributes contributing to its listing on the Register of the National Estate and it is important that these values are not compromised.

The Development Planning Guide prepared for the Canberra site (see Section 1.4) proved to be of considerable benefit in proposing ways of rationalising existing functions and facilities and integrating them with proposed new developments. A similar exercise will be undertaken for the Jervis Bay site during the life of this Plan.

A `style manual' will be compiled as a guide for designers and planners, to improve planning of the development of the Gardens to achieve conformity with various standards in the designed elements of the landscape, and to promote design excellence. The manual will set out guidelines on such matters as the following:

programming - procedures for programming and implementing new works and major maintenance projects;
planning - including principles for the preparation of detailed master plans of areas where new developments are proposed and covering the location of new developments, planning access and circulation, and so on; and
design - including siting principles, selection of materials and finishes, interpretive systems including signs and labels, and reference to standards and regulations applying.