The Country Club are being taken for a ride here. The blue area (6.6ha) is what Oakstand Developer is paying for but the whole of the area which is edged by the red dashed line (approx. 60% of the entire VGC precinct) is what they get the benefit of and which they don’t have to pay a cent for.
They get to use it for easements, services, biodiversity and environmental offsets, bushfire protection and anything else that is necessary and incidental to their development. At the same time the developer acquires all these unpaid for benefits, the Country Club is shutting the door on any prospect of continuing a 13 hole golf course configuration or realising the desire of a full 18 hole championship golf course. The entire southern portion of the Vincentia Golf Club property will exist for the benefit of the developer, yet they will have only paid to own a fraction of it.
There’s also the nonsensical proposition that the golf clubhouse will be located under a 4-storey Seniors Living complex and that the Country Club will neither own the clubhouse nor have permanent, ongoing and guaranteed use of it.
There’s only one winner here and it’s the developer.
As an aside, how the developer will be able to satisfy the requirements of the Housing SEPP regarding separation of residential areas from the registered club will be something to keep an eye on.
Another nonsensical proposition is that the major water supply for the golf course will not be on golf course land, it will be on land owned by the developer. What rights will the golf club have to the water on their neighbour’s land? The Seniors Living development will have plenty of landscaped areas to water not to mention the water supply required for bushfire fighting purposes. The water regulator may not allow the capture and storage of water on one property for sale to, or use on, another property. There will be absolutely no benefit to the Golf Club under this setup. The golf club needs the course water storage to be on land it owns.
There’s only one winner in all this and it’s not St Georges Basin Country Club. The sad thing is that the community and environment of Vincentia will be the biggest losers.
Rob Christlo FoVGC Committee Member
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