{"id":467609,"date":"2026-02-09T02:19:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T02:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/467609\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T02:19:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T02:19:10","slug":"fairbairn-golf-club-faces-uncertain-future-following-defence-sell-off-announcement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/467609\/","title":{"rendered":"Fairbairn Golf Club Faces Uncertain Future Following Defence Sell-Off Announcement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#13;<br \/>\n &#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.golfindustrycentral.com.au\/?attachment_id=52557\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-52557 nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-52557\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770603550_359_fairbairn-golf-aerial.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"676\" height=\"615\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"1\">Members of the Fairbairn Golf Club are reeling after the Department of Defence listed the 65-hectare course as one of 68 properties slated for sale, despite the club signing a five-year lease just last July.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"2\">Established in the 1960s on a former RAAF base, the course sits adjacent to Canberra Airport. Club president Brian Depree described the announcement as coming \u201cout of the blue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"3,0\">\u201cWe were certainly shocked,\u201d Mr. Depree said. \u201cIt came out of the blue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Key Obstacles to Development<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"5\">While the site is a prime candidate for expansion, several factors complicate a potential sale:<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>PFAS Contamination: Low levels of firefighting foam chemicals have been detected in the soil near the course boundaries.<br \/>\nSafety Buffers: The land currently serves as a \u201cgreen buffer\u201d between a live-fire range and residential areas.<br \/>\nLease Clauses: While a five-year lease is in place, it contains an \u201cexceptional circumstances\u201d clause that Defence could invoke.<\/p>\n<p>Potential Suitors and Land Use<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"9\">The Canberra Airport Group has expressed interest, with Head of Property Richard Snow calling the sale an \u201cobvious opportunity,\u201d though he remains cautious regarding restrictions.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"10\">Current zoning and proximity to flight paths suggest the land is unsuitable for housing. Ashlee Berry of the Property Council ACT suggested the site\u2019s best use would be boosting industrial and commercial land supply for warehousing and logistics.<\/p>\n<p>Impact on Members<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"12\">The club, which boasts 882 members and is known for offering the \u201ccheapest game in Canberra,\u201d has put its 10-year development plan on hold. Mr. Depree is scheduled to meet with Defence officials this Tuesday to seek clarity on the timeline and the sudden shift in strategy.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"13\">For now, Mr. Depree has advised members it is \u201cbusiness as usual,\u201d noting that \u201cDefence is historically slow\u201d and the land may not be as attractive to developers as other sites on the list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&#13; &#13; &#13; Members of the Fairbairn Golf Club are reeling after the Department of Defence listed the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":467610,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,85],"class_list":["post-467609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=467609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/467610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=467609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=467609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=467609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}