Canberra golf course redevelopments providing both much-needed housing and financial lifelines for struggling clubs

At the Yowani Country Club in Canberra’s inner north, the thwack of golf clubs hitting balls will soon be muffled by the rumble of excavators.

The site is being redeveloped for between 800 and 1,000 dwellings — including retirement living — as well as commercial spaces, a hotel and a new clubhouse to sit alongside the club’s golf course. 

The ACT government has committed to developing 30,000 new homes by 2030, and acknowledges greater urban density is needed to get there.

And redevelopments like the one at Yowani, on the northern end of Northbourne Avenue in Lyneham, will go some way towards reaching that goal. 

Ace Popovich, senior development manager at TP Dynamics —  the builders behind the project — said it was the culmination of a long process involving a lot of red tape.

Ace Popovich of TP Dynamics says the Yowani Country Club redevelopment will put the club on a firm financial footing. (ABC News: Stuart Carnegie)

“It took about five years in master planning and approvals and getting the site re-zoned,” Mr Popovich said. 

“The clubhouse should be finished probably within about six months, and the golf course should be completed by then as well.” 

Mr Popovich said the desire to keep the course functioning added additional complexities — but ultimately, it would put the club on a firm financial footing.

“At the end of the day, the golf club has been struggling for a while,” Mr Popovich said. 

“So we’re giving them some new amenities and hopefully that’s going to sustain it in the future.

“We’re both heading towards a sustainable development, both for the club’s future and also this community development.”

The Yowani Country Club runs through Lyneham. (ABC News: Andrew Kennedy)

Courses costly to maintain 

Contributing to the financial viability of golf clubs, is that courses can be expensive to upkeep. 

The Federal Golf Club, for example, has an 85 hectare lease adjacent to the Red Hill Nature Reserve in Canberra’s south.

It’s a habitat for kangaroos and bird species including the endangered gang-gang cockatoo and superb parrot — but the site has no natural water source and the club relies on storage ponds and mains water to irrigate the course.

Club president Regina Neary argued the cost of water — particularly in years of drought — had left its budget in dire straits. 

“There was one year that the amount that was spent on buying potable water was $400,000,” Ms Neary said. 

Federal Golf Club president Regina Neary says the cost of water has caused financial woes for the club. (Supplied: Federal Golf Club)

“Not only was that financially crippling for the club but from an environmental perspective, buying potable water is not particularly environmentally friendly either.

“We have got two small dams here, but they are not sufficient to actually green the area and keep the club alive. 

“During that point in time, the club actually lost a lot of members because it was not as pleasant and green.”

Ms Neary said the course’s watering system also needed to be replaced — a project she estimated could cost more than $2.2 million.

In 2016, the club looked to development as a solution to its financial woes. 

It’s partnered with retirement community operator MBark to build and run a 125 residence retirement village in a corner of its land; modify the course to maintain 18 holes; increase water storage; and improve maintenance and clubhouse facilities. 

“So the size that we’re talking about is actually a parcel of land of approximately 7 hectares out of 85 hectares — so it is a small parcel of land that we’re actually considering,” Ms Neary said. 

“It has been heavily endorsed by ACT government through their Red Hill Integrated Plan. 

“The concerns that we have — if our irrigation system, for example, was to breakdown to a catastrophic level — then that absolutely puts the club financially into a tumultuous position.”

A 125 residence retirement village is proposed in the corner of the Federal Golf Club’s land. (ABC News: Callum Flinn)

Not all members agree

Just as pressure for the Federal Golf Club to develop its land stems from its own operational costs, so too does the most determined opposition to its plans.

The ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT) halted construction of the retirement village in April this year, after advocacy group Friends of Federal Fairways raised concerns the development application hadn’t been properly authorised. 

The tribunal also highlighted conflicting evidence about development’s potential environmental impacts, noting “had it been necessary for the tribunal to decide this matter, it would have remitted the Development Application to the Planning and Land Authority with a direction to seek further advice from the conservator”. 

After an appeal by the club and MBark, the ACT Supreme Court set aside the ACAT decision earlier this month. 

The case is expected to again be considered by the tribunal in the coming months. 

Ross McLeod is among club members who worry the development will interrupt a suburban oasis for golfers and wildlife alike. 

Member Ross McLeod says he’s worried the Federal Golf Club redevelopment will see it deteriorate in quality as parts of the course are sold. (ABC News: Callum Flinn)

“I think it’s a great course and one of the nicest parts about it is that it’s right in the middle of Canberra and yet you don’t really realise you’re right in the middle of Canberra,” Dr McLeod said. 

“A much earlier generation of golfers in Canberra worked to establish this course, through their own sweat — they literally built the thing themselves — and they left that as a legacy for we who came along later. 

“So I think we have a responsibility to maintain that and improve it if possible — not to sell off bits of it and really make it deteriorate in quality.”

Dr McLeod argued other investments by the club, including its hospitality business, were the reason for its financial woes and could be restructured to stabilise the budget.

He also took umbrage with the idea of development on publicly owned land creating a financial gain for the club.

“I don’t deny that we need to find some more land for additional residential development, but to me the sensible thing to do is to look for some land which is available but not being used for anything much at the moment,” Dr McLeod said. 

Golf Australia’s general manager said “without question,” golf courses play an important role in our urban areas. (ABC News: Jed Cooper)

Ms Neary insisted those opposed to the development were a minority, and she thought the development plans would stand up to deeper scrutiny of its environmental impacts.

“We have the support of the membership, and I think if we consider how the more recent board election was voted in, that was really an overwhelming support for the development,” she said,

“And prior to that, the membership had a positive vote for enabling the board to go into a business arrangement and sign commercial documents with our business partners.”

Planning consideration

Canberra isn’t the only city where governments are casting about for land to meet the needs of a growing population. 

In Sydney, the New South Wales government has pledged to spend $50 million to convert half of Moore Park Golf Course into a public park, to provide green space for nearby apartment dwellers. 

The state government also plans to convert Carnarvon Golf Course into a cemetery.

ACT chief planner George Cilliers said the Territory government currently held no such plans for golf courses in Canberra. 

The Yowani Country Club sits in Lyneham. (Facebook: Yowani Country Club)

“Canberra golf courses are a vital part of the blue-green network, part of the open space network,” Mr Cilliers said. 

“That’s captured within the planning strategy, that’s captured within our district strategies — they’re carefully planned. 

“We just don’t have that sort of pressure yet or those sorts of applications yet.”

Mr Cilliers said a number of development applications for golf course redevelopments were currently on-foot, and he expected there would be more in the future. 

“I think we will foresee some applications for densification or repurposing of parts of golf courses,” he said. 

ACT Chief Planner George Cilliers says there are currently a number of applications for golf course redevelopments, and he expects more to come. (ABC News: Callum Flinn)

A growing game

While there’s demand for land to house a growing population, Golf Australia’s general manager of clubs and facilities Damien de Bohun said the number of people seeking a fairway to play on was also on the rise. 

“There’s more than 4 million adult Australians playing golf now, which has grown by 50 per cent over the last three years,” Mr de Bohun said.

“What we’re seeing is there are a number of new golf courses coming and being built, but there’s also a whole lot of new ways that people are engaging with golf, like indoor simulators, technology enabled driving ranges, right through to mini golf venues — so there’s a lot more golf venues.”

Mr de Bohun said there was no doubt some clubs were struggling but he expected some of the growth in demand for places to play would help offset rising costs.

“We do see a whole lot of conversations around the country about what golf course land could be used for,” he said. 

Damien de Bohun of Golf Australia says there’s no doubt some clubs are struggling, but he thinks the growth in demand will help offset rising costs. (AAP: Dan Peled)

A University of Melbourne study of biodiversity of green spaces in the Victorian capital’s south-eastern suburbs found golf courses contained the greatest diversity and abundance of beetles, bees, birds and bats.

“All the evidence points towards that golf courses are in fact more effective in areas like biodiversity and also rain catchment than in fact just general parks are,” Mr de Bohun said. 

“So there’s a really important role for golf courses going forward in our urban areas without question.

“We’re building very, very strong evidence that the social impact of golf, the health impact of golf, the mental health impact of golf, is so strong that most of the councils and most of the communities that we engage with are seeing that having a golf course there is, in fact, a very, very important part of the future.”