In an application to Heritage Victoria, the City of Greater Bendigo said it wants to install aerial cabling and an atmospheric cooling system in the park.

The additions would, Heritage Victoria is told, mitigate tree limb failure, improve public safety and reduce the impact of roosting bats on trees in the fernery.

READ MORE:

An arborist report recommended a synthetic fibre-based tree restraint system be used, which would require no tree drilling or wounding for installation.

It's hoped the system will prevent bats from dying during extreme heat and encourage them to roost on the cabling rather than trees.

The cooling system would be created by connecting into the existing irrigation network and installing four, six metre risers.

It would be funded through a joint partnership between council, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, World Wildlife Fund and WSP Ecology.

Three new public entry points to the fernery are also proposed, fitted with contemporary gates, which seek to increase pedestrian movement at the site.

READ MORE:

A maintenance only gate at the north boundary of the fernery would be converted into public access, while two additional entrances would also be created.

A non-heritage 1990s chain link fence will be broken, as will garden beds and sections of volcanic rock to create the entrances.

A more grand entrance to the southern end of the park is also proposed to replace the original cast iron fence that runs around the lower edge of the park, where it meets the road.

Where Park Road and Bridge Street intersect, there are a pair of steel vehicle entry gates and a pedestrian gate.

Council has sought to remove the steel gates, relocate a gate post and install two contemporary bollards, to "reinforce the fact that the park is always open to the public and will provide a more direct entry into the fernery", its application said.

One of the cast iron posts will be relocated to replace an existing smaller fence post, which will be kept in storage.

At the northern end of the site, an existing bollard weighing about 40kg will be removed and replaced by a bollard matching that at the southern entry.

Council also hopes to install simple skillion shelters over existing bench seats to protect them from bat and ibis droppings.

Rosalind Park has been deemed to be of archaeological, aesthetic and botanical significance by Heritage Council Victoria.

Formerly the Government Camp Precinct, it served as the site of one of the largest government camps in the Victorian goldfields and is an example of a large, nineteenth century public recreation reserve.

Its water features, bridges, rockeries and garden beds all contain elements of significance, while the conservatory is Victoria's only surviving nineteenth century conservatory within a public park.

Any person may lodge a submission with respect to the application before February 23, in writing, to Heritage Victoria PO Box 500 Melbourne.

Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.