Former North Lakes golf course now earmarked for school

The developer of a once award-winning southeast Queensland golf course, which closed suddenly two years ago, angering locals, has applied to include an independent school on the site alongside a retirement village.

Village Retirement Group’s Justin Harrison.

The developer of the former North Lakes Golf Course has applied to include an independent school on the site along with a previously announced retirement village.

The Village Retirement Group (TVRG) is seeking State Government approval to include a school on part of the 68-hectare course that closed two years ago.

The closure of the award winning course has attracted protests from residents and club members who said the facility had served as a vital hub for the local community. They want the site preserved as a golf course.

TVRG said several independent education institutions had expressed interest in establishing a new school on the southern part of the site between Endeavour Boulevard and Diamond Jubilee Way,

The land is zoned for sport and recreation but education is an allowable use under the planning scheme that governs the site.

David Orr was one of those who campaigned to keep the golf course opened. Picture: Tara Croser.

TVRG said that based on census data, the demand for non-government school enrolments will increase by between 1550 and 1790 students for primary schools and between 1650 and 2340 students for secondary schools over the next 15 years.

TVRG said it is preparing to lodge a development application for an aged care facility and retirement village on another part of the former course with the balance site preserved for community recreation use.

TVRG managing director Justin Harrison said the development application would seek approval for 243 low-rise independent living units and a single-storey 120-bed aged-care facility.

Local residents say the decision to close the course in the master planned Stockland estate came out of the blue two years ago.

Margaret and David Orr tried to stop the closure of the golf course. Picture: Tara Croser.

Stockland says there was nothing it could have done to stop the closure of course. The course was originally proposed by the Foster Group’s Lensworth, which developed the master plan for the suburb, and then sold to a private operator. Lensworth was acquired by Stockland in 2004 for $846m.

The course, which closed in 2019 after being sold to the aged care developer headed by Mr Harrison, formed the centrepiece of the North Lakes community north of Brisbane with hundreds of homes having frontage onto the fairways.

Mr Harrison said he wanted to preserve most of the course as a public park with only a small proportion being used as a retirement village development.