Northcote GC survives the ‘cut’

By Michael Davis

ONE of the main people responsible for saving the Northcote Public Golf Course had no intention of gloating over his rivals.

Spokesman for the Northcote Golf and Community Hub group, Bill Jennings, simply described the compromise voted on by the Darebin City Council as a victory for common sense.

 “Common sense has prevailed,” he said.

The Darebin Council’s decision augurs well for council owned and operated public golf courses around the country, many of whom are facing similar threats to their existence.

In Victoria, Elsternwick Park Golf Course is being partially transformed into a nature reserve and the City of Stonnington is investigating requests for community access to Malvern Valley Golf Course.

Golf Australia had taken up the cudgels alongside Northcote golfers and welcomed the council’s decision.

Chief executive James Sutherland said the decision had broader ramifications than one golf course.

“Northcote is a public facility which welcomes anyone to play, and we’ve seen and heard a lot of stories over the journey from people who use a facility that is hugely popular at a time when the game of golf is booming,” said Sutherland. 

“We want to see solutions for shared public space, and this is a common sense approach to Northcote. It provides a solution for golfers and for accessible golf, which is what it’s all about. Golf is a fun sport for everyone.

“But it also provides a win for the broader community in the sense that some space is created for parkland.”

Jennings said while he understood others would be disappointed, a huge amount of space was already opened up for the community.

“As part of the decision, nearly six hectares of land would be made available to the community, which was ‘underplayed’,” Jennings said.

But opponents of golfers had pushed on to unlock all the Northcote layout for community use every day after 3pm and all day on Sundays.

In May, the City of Darebin voted to open up 5.72 hectares of the Northcote golf course, with land at the southern and northern ends of the site to be turned into local parks and linked by a shared path. Nine holes of the 12 existing holes would be retained for golf in what was described as a “win-win” situation for golfers and those who had pushed to open up the site for the community.

However, Darebin councillors voted 5-4 to keep the course “golf focused” following lengthy submissions from all parties and after a report predicted rising costs associated with opening the area to community use. Mayor Lina Messina said after the vote that keeping the course golf-focused was a “win for all”. she said.

A document compiled by Darebin Council officers recommended councillors vote to keep the course solely for golfing purposes week round. 

Officers noted that there could be a possible 40 per cent financial impact to council if golf was restricted until 3pm only, and a potential 30 per cent increase in clean up expenses to tidy up litter or damage by the public to the greens.

Allowing the public free access to the greens on Sundays was considered to have a possible 17 per cent financial impact and “potential increased course clean-up expenses”. 

The report stated that in the 2021-2022 financial year 25,775 rounds of golf were played at Northcote Public Golf Course, up from 24,494 rounds played in 2020-21 and the average of 18,900 rounds per year between 2015-16 to 2019-20.

Northcote is one of two public courses in Darebin council area, with Bundoora Park Public Golf course 10 kilometres to the north-east.

Residents had been campaigning to reclaim the green space since the height of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns, when Northcote and many other Melbourne golf courses were opened up for public access.