{"id":524377,"date":"2026-03-07T09:32:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T09:32:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/524377\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T09:32:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T09:32:25","slug":"golfing-legend-greg-norman-visits-hobart-for-pitch-on-proposed-south-arm-golf-course","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/524377\/","title":{"rendered":"Golfing legend Greg Norman visits Hobart for pitch on proposed South Arm golf course"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australian golfing legend Greg Norman has flown into Hobart on a private jet and taken a helicopter tour over the proposed South Arm golf course site.<\/p>\n

It comes as the man behind the ambitious project looks to secure a high-profile backer.<\/p>\n

Developer Justin Hetrel has spent 14 years and $30 million building a first-of-its-kind A-class water recycling scheme at South Arm.<\/p>\n

It pipes treated wastewater 7 kilometres under the Derwent River from Blackmans Bay to irrigate farmland across a peninsula that has been in effective drought since 1975.<\/p>\n

\"\"New treated wastewater pipes run 7km under the Derwent River for irrigation as part of the project<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not just about a golf course. We\u2019re about water, which is life,\u201d Hetrel told Pulse.<\/p>\n

The golf course is central to the plan \u2013 acting as the irrigation scheme\u2019s anchor tenant and heaviest water user \u2013 but Hetrel says the bigger prize is delivering irrigation to more than 41 farms across South Arm, Sanford, Cremorne and Clifton Beach.<\/p>\n

\"\"New treated wastewater pipes run 7km under the Derwent River for irrigation as part of the project<\/p>\n

Norman\u2019s visit was arranged by Hetrel, who pitched Norman at Crown Casino in Melbourne weeks earlier on the plan to blend golf and water infrastructure around South Arm.<\/p>\n

Hetrel said Norman was enthusiastic about what he saw from the air, particularly the water infrastructure underpinning the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe shark loves the ocean \u2013 that was his backyard I showed him yesterday,\u201d Hetrel said.<\/p>\n

Norman then met with Premier Jeremy Rockliff and Treasurer Eric Abetz at Hobart Airport to discuss investment opportunities in the state.<\/p>\n

\"\"Premier Jeremy Rockliff and Treasurer Eric Abetz met with Norman and the project\u2019s proponents<\/p>\n

Premier Rockliff said the meeting was a chance to showcase Tasmania\u2019s investment potential.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a fantastic opportunity to promote Tasmania\u2019s unique tourism offerings, our speciality brand and unique identity,\u201d he told Pulse.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreg is a well known business person and developer and Tasmania is open for business.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTasmania is entering a new era of opportunity and we are sustainably growing our tourism industry by promoting Tasmania to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Greg Norman flew to the proposed site at South Arm by helicopter<\/p>\n

Hetrel\u2019s company is still waiting on key approvals to proceed with construction of the golf course.<\/p>\n

The 120-hectare site contains several Aboriginal middens and has drawn opposition from Aboriginal Heritage Tasmania, which has raised concerns about the development.<\/p>\n

The Tasmanian Conservation Trust has filed an appeal against a Supreme Court ruling handed down on January 29, which found the development had been substantially commenced and dismissed the TCT\u2019s challenge to the validity of the planning permit.<\/p>\n

The TCT is seeking to raise $50,000 to fund the appeal, arguing the case has implications beyond the South Arm site.<\/p>\n

\"\"Greg Norman took a helicopter tour over the proposed site at South Arm<\/p>\n

\u201cAt stake in this appeal is whether Arm End Reserve is saved from destruction by a golf course and associated infrastructure,\u201d the TCT said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The conservation group says the 120-hectare Arm End Reserve, formally listed on the Aboriginal Heritage Register in 2013, would be devastated by the development.<\/p>\n

It also warned that runoff from the course could threaten the adjacent Opossum Bay Marine Conservation Area \u2013 home to the critically endangered spotted handfish.<\/p>\n

The Tasmanian government originally granted Hetrel\u2019s company, Mary Ann\u2019s Island Pty Ltd, a lease to build the golf course in 2014 \u2013 despite extensive and ongoing opposition from the Aboriginal Heritage Council, who want to see the land protected.<\/p>\n

\"\"Developer Justin Hetrel is behind the pitch for a \u2018world-class\u2019 South Arm golf course project<\/p>\n

Hetrel acknowledged the approvals path had been difficult, saying a development permit granted in 2018 lapsed in 2022 and his company was now working with Aboriginal Heritage Tasmania to reinstate it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s got more and more sensitive as we\u2019ve gone down the road,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He hopes to resolve the approvals pathway with the state government within eight weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re working to get an outcome that satisfies all the parties around the table,\u201d Hetrel said.<\/p>\n

\"\"The golf course is being proposed for South Arm near Hobart<\/p>\n

Hetrel said his company has invested around $30 million to date, with a further $25 million needed to complete the first stage.<\/p>\n

Pending approvals, construction could start as early as June 1, with the course opening roughly 10 months later.<\/p>\n

He confirmed Norman was being pursued as a financial backer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are looking to get Greg investing in the state,\u201d Hetrel said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australian golfing legend Greg Norman has flown into Hobart on a private jet and taken a helicopter tour…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":524378,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,85],"class_list":["post-524377","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\/524377","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=524377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/524378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=524377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=524377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=524377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}