Eurobodalla Council vote to remove old bowling club site from Batemans Bay masterplan
The future of a South Coast CBD’s former bowling club site – identified as prime development land – is back in limbo after a council voted to remove it from a major masterplan and hand its fate to an “independent consultant”.
The future of a South Coast CBD’s former bowling club site - identified as prime development land - is back in limbo after a council voted to remove it from a major masterplan and hand its fate to an “independent consultant”.
The vacant block at 2 Vesper St, Batemans Bay has sat empty since the NSW Government wrapped up the bridge project in 2022 and returned the land to council.
Before that, it housed the town’s bowling club, which closed in 2013 after merging with Club Catalina.
Since the bridge build, the site has attracted competing visions.
Two developers recently submitted expressions of interest for high-rise projects, while council’s draft Batemans Bay masterplan floated towers up to 100m.
But fierce community backlash — and the creation of the Eurobodalla Welcome Park Group — prompted council to rethink its plans.
At Wednesday’s council meeting, locals aired frustration over the site’s stagnant future.
Patricia Hellier, who has lived in Batemans Bay for 25 years, said she did not want the site to stay empty, but was not convinced a park was the answer.
“There’s better things that could be put on that site than a park,” she said, calling the long-vacant block “very sad”.
“I’m very conflicted,” she said.
“I firmly believe we are losing money on that site – how long will it take?”
Neil Gow, founder of the park group, urged councillors to rule out high-rise development and instead commit to turning the land into a community space.
His comments followed a motion from mayor Mathew Hatcher to remove the block from the draft masterplan altogether.
The motion also directed council to “engage an independent consultant to assess its future”.
Mr Gow said the move was a good “first step”.
“We propose the land be reclassified to community land – this step would remove the possibility of sale,” he said.
Councillors voted unanimously to pull the site from the masterplan.
Its future now rests with an independent consultant, to be appointed at a later date.
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Originally published as Eurobodalla Council vote to remove old bowling club site from Batemans Bay masterplan
