This north shore council just handed a golf club 21 more years on harbourside land

A north shore council has narrowly voted to keep a swath of government-owned green space just seven kilometres from the CBD in the hands of a golf club for 21 more years, against the advice of council staff.

In a behind-closed-doors portion of Willoughby City Council’s meeting on Monday night, councillors voted 6-5 to grant the lengthy lease extension to Northbridge Golf Club, which runs the public course just north of Cammeray on Middle Harbour, in one of the country’s wealthiest areas.

Northbridge Golf Club has been granted a new 21-year lease over land controlled by Willoughby City Council.Credit: Northbridge Golf Club

But the decision, voted in secret because of commercial concerns, was against the official advice of staff at the council, who recommended the lease only be extended for five years.

It also contradicts a 2023 report by the Northern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils, of which Willoughby Council is a member, that proposed “repurposing” some public golf courses in the area “in total or partially” to meet a rapidly increasing demand for community green space.

The group projected that the capacity of sports fields in the city’s north would need to increase by 220 hectares, or 50 per cent, by 2036.

Willoughby Deputy Mayor Nic Wright, who opposed the lease extension, said the council should reconsider whether “an 18-hole golf course in the middle of suburbia” was the best use of land.

“For us to essentially privatise one of the largest parcels of public land when we know that increased density is coming to our suburbs is just about criminal,” he said.

Nic Wright, deputy mayor of Willoughby Council, at the Northbridge Golf Club.Credit: Nikki Short

Allowing the recommended five-year extension would have brought the club’s arrangement in line with that of the nearby Chatswood Golf Club, which had separately applied to Willoughby Council to extend its lease. Its application was also accepted by councillors on Monday.

But councillors amended the official recommendation to give Northbridge Golf Club the maximum possible lease agreement that would not require the approval of the NSW local government minister. The council will now place the lease on public notice.

Brett Parker, the club’s general manager, said repurposing the land would be detrimental to the community’s wellbeing.

“Unfortunately, a few people think that golf is some elitist game that is just for the chosen few, but the realistic view is that golf is played by a wide range of people in various socio-economic conditions, and the health benefits … are fantastic,” he said.

The club was established on the site in 1935, and requested the lease extension so it could restore a heritage building and celebrate its 100th anniversary, he said.

“We’re a community-focused golf club, and we have a lot of community groups that use our facility,” he said, adding that the lease has given the club certainty to spend money improving council assets.

The staff recommendations, usually kept confidential, were only made public because the document was inadvertently placed on the council’s livestream.

Willoughby Mayor Tanya Taylor referred this masthead’s questions to the council’s media department, which did not respond by deadline.

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