In a major shock, the massive South East Sports Hub (SESH) in Bangholme – as well as a housing estate at a Keysborough Green Wedge golf course – are both off the table.
Property developer Intrapac, who was in partnership with Keysborough Golf Club (KGC), has withdrawn its application for the 70-hectare sports and recreation precinct at 226-256 Pillars Road.
The plan was controversially tied to the rezoning of the golf club’s current home in the Green Wedge – a move that the State Government resolutely refused.
The golf course would have been sold to Intrapac and turned into a 1600 home estate, while KGC moved to a new Intrapac-funded golf course near the SESH on Pillars Road.
Intrapac and KGC’s 10-year deal expired on 30 September, with a proposed extension voted down by KGC members last month.
With a legion of support from sports clubs and bodies, the SESH was touted as a “once in a generation opportunity” to address the shortage of sport facilities in the region.
Intrapac had pledged to fund the $30 million stage-one of the SESH, including nine sport fields, netball courts and two pavilions. The total package was to span more than 25 sport fields.
Intrapac chief executive Max Shifman says the State Government had denied the community a “$60 million free kick”.
“The Victorian Government has let a privately-funded regional sporting facility – supported by major bodies such as AFL Victoria, Football Victoria, Golf Australia – go begging, at a time when the government’s finances are in a deep hole,” he said.
“This will leave a generation of young people in the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne without the sporting facilities they need to maintain their physical and mental health.”
KGC president Darrell Swindells said he was disappointed in the State Government’s refusal to rezone, despite Greater Dandenong Council’s support for the move.
The club had previously argued the SESH deal was vital for its survival and push for a broader membership and healthier bank balance.
But Mr Swindells said the club was still financially healthy, boosted by Intrapac’s sign-on option payments with interest over the past decade.
“It won’t be the state-of-the-art program we’d hoped for. But we will still be considered one of the best golf courses in the area.
“We don’t see ourselves falling over but we’re certainly in a different position.”
He and Shifman saw some irony in the Government approving a development plan for 941 homes at the former Kingswood Golf Course in Dingley Village days earlier.
“It demonstrates that the State Government is more concerned about protecting imaginary lines on maps than achieving real, on-the-ground outcomes,” Shifman said.
“New housing approvals continue to languish under the current State Government direction and show no sign of improving any time soon.
“That something of the magnitude of the KGC/SESH project could not even be considered on its merits, despite every opportunity afforded to it, shows how disconnected the State is from the needs and wants of real Victorians.”
After a 10 year campaign by opponents, Greater Dandenong Environment Group president Isabelle Nash welcomed the “great news” that “the towel has been thrown in”.
“It’s been an exhausting process. We’re happy that the State Government stood by their word and didn’t rezone the golf course and change the Urban Growth Boundary.
“Knowing that green space and old trees will remain and we won’t be fighting another 1500 cars in morning and evening traffic… it’s not just good for residents and the golfing community but also the birds, insects, bats and wildlife on that course.”
Greater Dandenong Council’s city futures executive director Sanjay Manivasagasivam confirmed Intrapac’s withdrawn application, adding that the developer was continuing to pursue its application for a new golf course at Pillars Road.
Defenders of the South East Green Wedge spokesperson Matthew Kirwan welcomed the latest news, but was sceptical whether this was the last word on the KGC redevelopment.
“I think the fact that Intrapac are still funding a golf course in Bangholme and the Keysborough Golf Club President is still spruiking development means that both are playing the long game”.
