Belair Golf Club set for new life as government considers any new proposals to use the site
THE old Belair Golf Course and Country Club would be home to new “recreation and tourism” opportunities under a State Government plan — and a prominent cafe owner may put their hand up.
- Locals rush to have a say on Belair Golf Course’s future
- Greens at defunct Belair Golf Club ‘will die’ without intervention
THE old Belair Golf Course and Country Club would be home to new “recreation and tourism” opportunities under a State Government plan — and a prominent Blackwood cafe owner could be in the running for a slice of the action.
The government last week opened expressions of interest for the Belair National Park site, which has been disused since January.
It would consider any proposal for the old country club — from commercial, not-for-profit and community organisations, to demolishing and replacing the existing buildings.
Environment Minister David Speirs ruled out the possibility of selling the land or using it for long-term accommodation — issues that had been raised in an earlier round of community consultation.
“We will consider proposals from a single operator to manage the entire site, proposals from multiple operators for parts of the site and proposals from community and local groups,” Mr Speirs said.
The government was looking for proposals that were “environmentally, socially and economically sustainable”.
Blackwood’s The Artisan Cafe owner Heather Holmes-Ross last week confirmed that she and husband Jonathan were planning to lodge an expression of interest for a restaurant and function centre.
Dr Holmes-Ross, who is also running for mayor of Mitcham in next month’s local government elections, said any venture at Belair would be largely run by her husband — a former executive chef for Qantas in South Australia and current head chef at The Artisan.
“It would be his love of creating beautiful food and combining that with his ability in large-scale production,” Dr Holmes-Ross said.
“I suppose it’s a natural extension of the cafe.
“We’re limited with space (in Blackwood) but also the Belair Country Club has been iconic in the area for years.
“Mt first job was at Caddies before it was the country club … in the early ’80s, so I would really like to see the place become iconic again and I think there’s a real opportunity for it to become part of the community.”
The Belair Park Country Club and Golf Course fell into administration in January with its owners having debts in excess of $2.1 million.
Administrator Clifton Hall handed the keys to the course back to the government in March — ending 36 years of private operation.
The course was originally constructed as nine holes in 1934, following a decision by the State Government to “raise additional income for the maintenance and further development of the (national) park”, according to the Belair Park Golf Club website.
The course was extended to 18 holes in 1941.
Expressions of interest are open until Thursday, November 1.
