“As the New South Wales government issues more density,more apartment living,more units,we need to balance that with more open space,” Minns said. “And this is a good decision when you consider the very limited options when it comes to open space in our community.”
Nine holes will be sacrificed for the new park and a discussion paper will be released next year to guide consultation with the City of Sydney,local community and stakeholders over how best to design the park. The government’s preference would be to plant the new park on the section of the course on the western boundary and north of Dacey Avenue,to maximise its proximity to residents.
It will consult the current golf course operator on the future of the remaining holes,the clubhouse and the driving range.
Moore Park Golf Course is one of 16 government-owned public golf courses in metropolitan Sydney and is run by a private operator under a service agreement with the NSW government. The NSW Department of Planning has said it is the third most-used golf course in Australia.
Club president John Janik vowed to fight the reduction of the course,saying a nine-hole course would not be able to run competitions and would likely not survive. While the golf course was always busy,other sporting grounds in Moore Park that had been overlooked for redevelopment were barely utilised,he said.
“This course was built for the working class,” Janik said. “All the other golf courses in this area charge $30,000 to join. We only charge $2000 to join. I actually thought Labor represented the working class.”