Greens at defunct Belair Golf Club ‘will die’ if government does not intervene
GREENS at the now-closed Belair Golf Club must continue to be maintained and not left to die, a Mitcham councillor and a local MP have warned.
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GREENS at the now-closed Belair Golf Club must continue to be maintained and not left to die, a Mitcham councillor and a local MP have warned.
Cr Lindy Taeuber, who last week posted about the issue on her Facebook page, told the HillsValley Weekly it would be difficult to find another group to take over the golf course if it was not properly maintained in the interim.
She called on the Department of Water and Natural Resources – which manages Belair National Park, including the golf course – to continue watering the greens.
“I’m not a golfing expert, but my understanding is that if greens are let go, to bring them back up to useful spec is quite an expensive and longwinded process,” Cr Taeuber said.
“I certainly would advocate for (the department) to consider keeping the greens watered so that any future proprietor … would be able to bring the fairways up to specification more easily.”
Independent state Waite MP Martin Hamilton-Smith last week wrote to the State Government requesting the greens continue to be watered.
Mr Hamilton-Smith said everything should be done to ensure a new operator could be found for the golf and country club.
“The loss of this club to our local community would be most unfortunate,” Mr Hamilton-Smith said.
“Both the golf course and the club need to survive, though this is clearly a commercial matter.”
Steve Palmer, who had worked as a green keeper around the country club for six months, said the golf course was already in trouble.
“Most of the greens have died right off and it’s rolled grass, so you can’t just water it and get it to grow back,” Mr Palmer said.
“It would need to be pulled up and relayed.”
The Belair Park Country Club and golf course last month fell into administration with its owners having debts in excess of $2.1 million.
Simon Miller, from administrator Clifton Hall, said the administrators had sought to sell the businesses as part of the administration process, but that “the trading position just wasn’t viable”.
Mr Miller said he had been approached by people interested in operating the club or the golf course and it might be “resurrected down the track”.
Department of Water and Natural Resources spokeswoman Jill Freear would not confirm whether the State Government planned to maintain the golf course.
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