Golf clubbed

By Melissa Grant
BEACONHILLS Country Golf Club is in a hole after a tribunal refused it permission to subdivide in an attempt to solve its financial woes.
The Victorian Civil Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) ruling has put the future of the Upper Beaconsfield course in doubt, with club management previously saying the subdivision was “vital” to improve its dire financial position.
However, VCAT member Geoff Rundell said a central argument supporting the proposal – the club’s poor finances and the possibility it could cease operating – wasn’t relevant when ruling about planning matters.
The club was seeking to create seven rural residential lots, about 15 hectares each, from excess land.
In January, the Gazette reported that the club was considering amalgamation after its membership and green fee revenue had dropped.
The club’s former general manager Danie McNeil then said that the land sale was “vital” in securing the future of the club.
The Cardinia Shire Council had approved two subdivision applications from the club and received 18 objections to the plans. Objectors were concerned about the effect a subdivision would have on the environment, and some said the club had gone back on a previous promise not to sell any more of its land.
Mr Rundell, when making his ruling, cited concerns about environmental impacts and said the subdivision was inconsistent with “the orderly planning of the area”.
“A central argument in support of this proposal is that the golf club is in a dire financial situation and may cease operating if this proposal fails,” Mr Rundell’s ruling read.
“I see nothing in the planning policy framework that requires me to give weight to this argument.
“Even if private economic circumstances should be considered, the proposal is said to be a step toward a further subdivision and on its own does not seem to assist the club in other respects.”
Cardinia Shire councillors last week discussed the future of the golf course behind closed doors.
Speaking to the Gazette this week, mayor Bill Pearson was critical of VCAT’s decision, saying that the council had done all it could to protect the golf course.
“We’re so tired of VCAT making decisions that aren’t in the interest of the majority of the community,” he said.
“We all agree with good planning, that’s why we go through these planning processes … it should have some flexibility.
“It’s a tragedy and I pray that something can be resolved.”
Beaconhills Country Golf Club management did not respond to inquiries from the Gazette before going to press.