Premier and Lord Mayor push different visions for Moore Park Golf Course
Premier Chris Minns and Lord Mayor Clover Moore may both want to turn Moore Park Golf Course’s back nine holes into new public space, but their visions for the site are very different.
NSW
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Cracks are appearing between Premier Chris Minns and Lord Mayor Clover Moore over their shared passion project to turn Moore Park Golf Course’s back nine holes into new public space.
While the Premier has insisted he will build new community sporting fields in the 20 hectares of reclaimed parkland, Ms Moore now says she wants the land to be turned into an “instant” park by moving some fences and adding new picnic areas.
The Lord Mayor’s preferred proposal would involve “minimal intervention … to expediate (sic) public access”.
“Removing the fences, planting more trees and adding new picnic areas would not be a difficult or expensive start,” she said.
Asked specifically about whether she wanted to see new sporting fields on land reclaimed by hacking Moore Park Golf Course in half, Ms Moore said Sydney “needs both sports fields and passive recreation areas”. “We look forward to seeing the government’s masterplan to drive further discussion about the best use of this land.”
Documents released under a parliamentary order show City of Sydney officials repeatedly seeking for the council to be involved in early consultations about the future of Moore Park.
Ms Moore has long championed claiming nine of Moore Park Golf Course’s 18 holes for green space. She said her preferred “minimal intervention” option would cost about $10m.
She also said the cost of converting the golf course to public land could be spread out over time.
Mr Minns seized on the Lord Mayor’s campaign in 2023, announcing he would claw 20 hectares of government land from the golf course when the lease expires next year.
The Telegraph this week revealed he made that announcement before analysis on the economic impact had been completed.
Revenue from the golf course currently tips in about $7m to Greater Sydney Parklands every year, which helps to pay for maintenance at Centennial Parklands.
On Thursday, Mr Minns said he did not know whether the government has modelled the economic impact of halving the course to nine holes.
“I don’t know if we’ve done economic modelling,” he said.
He said the government had “analysed” an alternative proposal to retain an 18-hole course while freeing up about 14 hectares of land.
He said that would require “a lot of government money”.
That proposal was made by a consortium of golfing bodies who estimated Mr Minns’ preferred plan could cost as much as $200m.
The Minns government has already spent almost half of the $2.6m budgeted so far for transforming Moore Park South.
That includes $127,000 for surveyors to “provide an updated survey for the Moore Park South Transformation Project,” according to a contract award notice published back on March 31.
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