Marrickville golf club takes swing at plans for its course to become public park land and open space

A POPULAR inner west golf course could disappear after bureaucrats recommended it be “re-used” to fix a shortage of footy fields and park land.

Marrickville Golf Club president Eddie Lakiss has vowed to fight proposals to transform, or reduce, the size of the Marrickville course. Picture: John Appleyard

A POPULAR inner west golf course could disappear after bureaucrats recommended it be “re-used” to fix a shortage of footy fields and park land.

Or, State Government planners said, the 18-hole Marrickville course could be cut to just nine holes to create more community open space.

But club officials have vowed to fight the proposals, saying that even reducing the size of the course, on the banks of the Cooks River, will end up “killing” it.

The idea to transform the course, on parcels of land owned by the Inner West Council and the Government, is contained in the Department of Planning’s draft Sydenham to Bankstown Urban Renewal Corridor Strategy.

As part of the strategy about 8500 new homes would be built around new Sydney Metro stations at Marrickville and Dulwich Hill, leading to a population surge over the next 20 years.

The renewal strategy said the “future of Marrickville Golf Course should be considered by the Inner West Council as a potential source of additional open space”.

The club says it has 475 members and there are 15,00 rounds of social golf played each year. Picture: John Appleyard

The Council leases the course to Marrickville Golf Club on a six-month rolling lease.

“Future options could include reusing this area as new open space for the community (or) reducing the size of the golf course to incorporate new areas of accessible open space,” the strategy states.

“Given the cost and limited opportunity of purchasing new open space in the Inner West Council area, this could be seen as a potential solution to providing improved local amenity to support the projected increase in local population.”

In 2012 a proposal put to the former Marrickville Council to carve the course in half to allow more space for sport and recreation, was shelved.

In 2012 Marrickville Golf Club members rallied to stop a plan to downsize the course from 18 to 9 holes.

Club president Eddie Lakiss, said he was worried that if the Greens gain control of the new council after the September local government elections, they may push for the course to be replaced by parks.

“Even if they decide to take us to nine holes it will kill this club, full stop,” Mr Lakiss.

“It will reduce our membership and social golf numbers because people want to play 18 holes.

“We have 475 members here and 15,00 rounds of social golf are played each year.”

“We fought it last time and we’ll fight it again,” he said.

The Council said Government planners need to look at new open space opportunities as part of the strategy, rather than try to “use existing assets more intensively.”

POSTAL PLEBISCITE FACING LEGAL CHALLENGE

A spokesman said the Council’s current position was that it remain an 18-hole course.

“Any change to that position will be a decision of the new Council,” he said.

Should the golf course e re-used for open space? Write to [e-mail]