Oatlands Golf Clubs knocks back Scott Morrison’s plea for shrine to Abdallah, Sakr children

Oatlands Golf Club has snubbed a plea from the Prime Minister to build a memorial for four young children killed in a car crash near the course, saying the case is closed.

Oatlands Golf Club has shrugged off an impassioned plea from Prime Minister Scott Morrison to build a memorial for four young children killed in a car crash near the course.

Mr Morrison wrote to the club saying it had a moral imperative to erect a tasteful memorial at the site of one of the city’s most horrific car crashes, in which Abdallah children Sienna, 8, Angelina, 12, and Antony, 13, and their cousin Veronique Sakr, 11, were mown down while out for ice cream.

Veronique Sakr, who was killed while walking with …

… her cousins Sienna, Angelina and Antony Abdallah.

An artist’s impression of the proposed memorial.

The club claimed president George Isaac did not receive Mr Morrison’s letter, posted on July 1, until an emailed copy arrived on Friday ­afternoon.

But if the club cared, they weren’t showing it. A letter to members yesterday indicated the case was closed.

Manager Sam Howe alerted members the Prime Minister’s appeal had fallen on deaf ears. “We will respond to the letter early next week, outlining the actions we have taken and why we consider the matter to be closed,” Mr Howe said.

Saturday’s message to members outlined the club’s dismay at having the contents of the Prime Minister’s letter made public, but did not address the reasons why Mr Morrison felt it important to honour the Abdallah and Sakr children at the site where their bodies were found in heavily wooded rough on the edge of the 12th hole.

The golf club has not explained why is rejected the memorial to Leila and Danny Abdallah …

… or to Veronique Sakr’s mother Bridget and brother Michael, 15.

In his letter, Mr Morrison said the grieving parents were “good people who are ­facing the worst that life can throw at them” and “all they have asked is their children not be ­forgotten”.

The club’s board of directors have come under fire for refusing to explain their reasons for rejecting the memorial to its membership, the grieving families or the public.

After The Sunday Telegraph revealed the negotiations had stalled, 2GB’s Ray Hadley called the directors “cold-hearted bastards” for not entertaining a compromise solution.

The board has twice rejected designs drawn up by Parramatta Council without first consulting its members, on the basis that the plans were too elaborate and would unduly remind neighbours of the tragedy.

The latest pared-back design consisted of a bench and four sunken sandstone boulders.

The council and state government have offered to construct, maintain and insure the site.

Club president George Isaac did not respond to a request for comment.

Originally published as Oatlands Golf Clubs knocks back Scott Morrison’s plea for shrine to Abdallah, Sakr children