Council endorses draft plan of new neighbourhood reserve on former Hahndorf bowling rink
A new neighbourhood reserve is on the cards for Hahndorf, complete with a small play area, mini-wheels racetrack and picnic facilities. But first, a slice of the local Bowling Club has to be sold.
Adelaide Hills
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The sale of an unused block of land could be the decider whether a redevelopment of the Hahndorf Bowling Club will go ahead.
The Mount Barker District Council has endorsed a four-week-community consultation on selling a 1100sq m block on English Street to help fund a new neighbourhood reserve – complete with a small play area, mini-wheels racetrack and picnic facilities.
The site would be developed on a former bowling green, directly adjacent existing club facilities which would also benefit from upgrades funded through the sale.
Hahndorf Bowling Club President Chris Button said he appealed to the community to get behind the initiative by expressing their support to the council.
He said the block had been sitting idle since the seventies when it was purchased for use as a carpark.
“We were going to turn the current car park into another bowling green as we thought we’d grow in membership, so this block was supposed to be the new car park,” he said.
“However, we didn’t grow as much as we thought we would so we never went ahead with the plans.
“So we’ve requested that the council sell it so that we can redevelop our existing facilities.
“They’ve now come up with a proposal to go halves - so that we use 50 per cent of the profit to upgrade the clubhouse, and the other half of the money to develop a small community park on the old, unused rink.”
According to council documents, not costing had yet been undertaken for the sale of the land.
However, based on similar block sizes for sale in Hahndorf, the land could fetch upwards of $400,000.
“We don’t really get a lot of land for sale in Hahndorf so I’m sure it would sell quickly and would be quite a sought after offering,” Mr Button said.
“It’d be great to get it all sorted by early next year, but first they would have to create a new title for the land to sell it.
“But we’re all very excited and hopeful as the club house hasn’t really changed since the seventies.
“As for the New Park, I think it’s a good thing as it will get more people to stay and play.”
A four-week community consultation will commence on Monday.