Arundel Hills Country Club: Council objects to state government’s controversial plan to ‘call in’ development
The state government must preserve golf courses and not set a precedent by developing the Arundel Hills Country Club to meet population housing targets, a community group warns.
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The state government must preserve golf courses and not set a precedent by developing the Arundel Hills Country Club to meet population housing targets, a community group warns.
Environment watchdog GECKO in a submission to Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon strongly opposes the potential use of state “call-in” powers to approve the $150 million residential development by 3 Group. The developer wants to build 380 homes on the abandoned golf course.
But GECKO advocate Lois Levy said the developer’s plan to gift 6.57ha to the school suggested that area would only be accessed in “later years” by the public.
She added that the most important land for koalas in the area was that parcel and it would “fragment the habitat”.
“The reason for this inappropriate gift is not given. GECKO members do not support this proposal,” Ms Levy wrote, in a submission to Ms Scanlon.
“In considering whether to approve this development our members do not believe it is state government or council’s role to facilitate to the acquisition of core koala habitat for a private school’s sporting facilities.”
Ms Levy said council’s infrastructure plan showed there were insufficient parks and the golf course provided much needed green space and an important wildlife corridor.
“Golf courses should not be considered as ‘land banks’ for development should they become non economically viable as a golf course,” Ms Levy said.
A call-in of the Arundel development would set a precedent for any other poor performing golf courses and end their importance as part of the green space network, she added.
Ms Levy said the population in the central suburban part of the city was expected to grow from 286,773 in 2020 to 395,129 in 2036 and it was essential residents living in the highest density areas had access to parks.
Council mapping clearly showed Arundel was an important area for koala sightings and its proximity to the critical corridor.
“The lower number of koala sightings to the west of the Pacific Highway indicates that the
habitat quality of these areas is lower than the eastern forests and further supports the contention that every effort should be made to protect habitat east of the MI,” Ms Levy said.
GECKO also disputes the argument by developers that their project will help provide much needed low cost housing as the city’s population is projected to reach more than one million.
“While it is claimed the homes will be affordable there is no definition of what this means or how this development meets this vague criterion,” Ms Levy said.
She said it was the Minister’s decision on a call-in but hoped full consideration would be given to the benefits of retaining the golf course for wildlife and public open space.
“The golf course already makes a positive and irreplaceable contribution to the city’s open space network and GECKO members would be disturbed to see this lost,” Ms Levy said.
Representations closed last week and Ms Scanlon in the next month must make a decision on the Arundel project which was rejected by council and headed to the planning appeal court.
‘We want it’: Surprise support for controversial $150m development
A sports and events powerhouse and prestigious school are backing Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon’s controversial call on the Arundel Hills Country Club project.
Ms Scanlon must make a decision by next month on her call-in of the Arundel Hills Country Club project - which was already rejected officially by the council in January.
Her final decision on her call-in - and whether to overturn the council decision - will be made after the 30-day submissions period closes.
The Gaven MP’s 30 days will be followed by 20 days to negotiate future plans for the $150m residential project to create 380 homes on the abandoned golf course.
With her proposed call-in special powers, the Minister wrote: “I do not intend to direct the decision maker (the Gold Coast City Council) to assess all or part of the application.”
It means the council - despite rejecting the initial development application for a litany of reasons - will have no role in future assessments, nor can it lodge an appeal in the Planning and Environment Court.
Representations including those from the Arundel Hills Community Association and council - they are both strongly opposed to the call in - concluded at 5pm on Tuesday.
But both Southport Sharks and A.B Paterson College have backed developer 3 Group.
A.B. Paterson principal Joanne Sheehy said the school would welcome greater sporting fields.
“At present the country club land is not being utilised and we would certainly support the significant benefits that would come for the College, the students and the broader community in re-purposing some of the land for major sporting fields and precincts,” she said.
3 Group has offered to build a sporting hub for the school, which would fund the project.
It would include the development of six tennis courts, two indoor basketball courts, two outdoor basketball courts, an indoor environmental centre for environmental studies, and an AFL-sized field to be used as a multi-purpose facility for AFL, soccer, cricket and rugby.
The sporting field will incorporate a club room, changing rooms, canteen, seating and carpark facilities for sporting clubs and the public, while the grounds will have lighting for night games and training.
Southport Sharks CEO Dean Bowtell said the growing popularity of Aussie Rules on the Coast meant the club was in need of greater sporting space.
“Our game on the Gold Coast has grown considerably over the last 10 years which has placed pressure on the demand for green space, so any opportunity to secure additional playing fields within the region is supported,” he said.
“Any opportunity to secure additional playing fields within the region is supported. Given the proximity of the proposed playing field to our club, we would be able to utilise this green space to assist the current field constraints for our junior and senior football programs.”
Mayor Tom Tate said the City was opposed to the redevelopment because the area was designed to have a native wildlife corridor for kangaroos and koalas.
Many people had bought their homes not to play golf but to overlook greenery, he said.
He rejected suggestions the development could provide affordable housing.
“For affordable housing we should look further afield and leave this alone,” he said.
Division councillor Joe Wilkinson has said this week council’s original rejection “adhered” to the planning scheme: “It was thoroughly investigated at all points and it was found it was not up to scratch.”
‘This is our chance’: Residents push to stop 380-home development’
Residents have ramped up a campaign to stop the state overruling the decision on the $150m Arundel Hills Country Club development, hoping to gain more than 3000 signatures before this week’s deadline.
Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon is weighing up using state “call-in” powers to make a final decision on the 380-home project. She has given stakeholders until Wednesday to make submissions.
The Arundel Hills Community Association has funded full-page newspaper advertisements, which include a QR code where residents can make a direct submission to the minister.
The group had secured 1876 letters on their Action Network page by Tuesday in their goal to get 3200 opponents to the call-in.
The Community Association described the call-in as a “ministerial overreach” and for Coast residents to join them to “protect our koalas” and other wildlife on the abandoned golf course.
Councillors in January rejected the development application which officers said it would see the removal of 75,000sq m of vegetation and four waterways. About 1200 residents had lodged objections to council at that point.
But Ms Scanlon in announcing the potential call-in noted “there is an acute shortage of land for housing supply in the Gold Coast and significant limitation on expansion areas”.
Lawyers for developers 3 Group in their appeal in the Planning Court to overturn council’s decision to stop its low density project said it could provide affordable housing.
The Community Association is warning that if the call-in occurs, the minister “will be able to make any decision she sees fit in respect of the development”.
It would enable her to “override the wishes of council”.
“This would cut straight across the appeal court case – what the minister says would take priority over the normal procedures of justice,” the Community Association said.
“At this stage, Ms Scanlon has asked for responses to the idea that the application will be called-in. This is our chance to tell her “no” and nip in the bud any idea that this should be decided by ministerial whim.”
The Community Association predict a call-in will create a precedent for Coast golf courses.
Other privately-owned sports clubs may be tempted to close “in pursuit of potential profits in the hundreds of millions of dollars”.
“The owner would put in a development application to their local council, knowing the minister is likely to intervene on their behalf no matter what their local council decides,” the Association said.
“That is why we need to act now, to stop a dangerous precedent being set that threatens green space throughout the state.”
‘Unacceptable’: Last ditch effort to kill off controversial $150m project
Gold Coast’s council is confronting the state government for its push to overturn the City’s rejection of a controversial Arundel development, listing a litany of negative impacts.
The City has lodged a scathing submission after Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon revealed she was considering using rarely-deployed call-in powers proposing to overrule council’s rejection of the Arundel Hills Country Club development plans.
Developer 3Group had proposed a 380-house development with submissions to Ms Scanlon’s shock move closing on Wednesday.
Council has submitted a nine-page response to Ms Scanlon blasting her proposal.
The letter to Minister Scanlon under Council CEO Tim Baker’s signature, argues there was “no need for a residential estate” of the type proposed.
It warns replacement of the long-closed golf course would create an “unacceptable” loss, “adversely affect” the city’s sporting credentials and is not offset by anything developer 3Group proposed.
The council’s Mr Baker argues:
* Creation of new residential housing would remove any buffer between houses;
* Would have a significant impact on the environment;
* Create additional bushfire risk;
* Is inconsistent with the area’s character;
* Would make traffic worse in the city.
New area councillor Joe Wilkinson said it was “crucial” to oppose Ms Scanlon’s proposal to “call in” the project.
“At the end of the day this was something which went through the process of council and the decision was made and it was not done lightly,” he said.
“I want the state to think about the fact that when they gave the council the power make the decision on behalf of the city they allowed us to do it and have faith we’d make the right choice.
“The decision adhered to the planning scheme which we assess developments against and it was thoroughly investigated at all points and it was found it was not up to scratch.”
Developer 3Group, headed by businessman Steven Kleytman, unveiled plans in 2023 for 380 houses on the Arundel Hills Country Club site.
3 Group says its proposal will create more than 380 houses for more than 1200 people, while providing significant sporting fields and facilities for the community, A.B. Patterson school and Southport Sharks.
In a dramatic move in mid-April, Ms Scanlon opened public consultation on her stepping in and using her powers to green light development at the Arundel Hills golf course.
Ms Scanlon’s move to officially “call in” the development comes despite council unanimously refusing an application for a $150m residential estate at the rundown course in January.
Council planning committee chair Mark Hammel at the time described a nine-page report by City officers recommending refusal as “the strongest I’ve seen”.
He said the planned residential development would see removal of 75,000 sqm of vegetation and four waterways.
The Bulletin understands Ms Scanlon was approached by proponents of the Arundel Hills development requesting she call it in.
Should the Minister ultimately decide to call in the development after public consultation, it is understood she would have the option of attaching conditions to any permission granted.
Ms Scanlon, appointed Housing Minister a year ago, has never previously used her call-in powers.
Zhongsheng Management, the company which previously owned and operated the golf club, was placed in external administration in May 2022.
The developer snapped up the site and unveiled its masterplan which would have kept 7.97ha, or 59 per cent of the site’s existing koala habitat.
Under its plans, some of the site would be granted to the neighbouring A.B. Patterson College, to become a community sporting hub.
Ms Scanlon said all issues, including housing and the environment, would be considered when she makes a decision on the future of the site.
“The potential call in is still out for public consultation so I won’t make a decision until the end of that period,” she said.
“There are a number of factors which made me consider the proposed call in, the environment was one of them, but housing was also the other.”
Bonney MP Sam O’Connor in State Parliament has urged Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon to not go ahead with the call-in.
“My community fought for over a year to see the Gold Coast council comprehensively and unanimously reject the proposal in January,” he said.
“Almost 1200 locals, pretty much every person who lives next to this green space, and many from further afield wrote in to object to this proposal.
“Every single councillor voted against it because it was a bad proposal which set a bad precedent for a city which does not have enough sport and recreation land.”
Mr O’Connor said residents were “devastated” to discover they now faced a far greater threat with a call-in.
“We are already punching well above our weight in terms of housing density,” he said.
“Southport Sharks are looking at putting in residential towers on their car park as well as another multistorey car park as part of their master plan. There is a state owned block of land in the Health and Knowledge Precinct, which is zoned residential.”
A majority of residents responding to his Facebook post of the speech supported Mr O’Connor.
“Thanks for fighting for all that’s good and right and listening to your community and more importantly the iconic endangered Aussie wildlife we see here thriving,” a resident wrote.
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