Page 4 - BOL June 21 Edition

Save North Lakes Golf Course

– Where To Now?

by Andrew Cathcart - Save North Lakes Golf Course Inc (SNLGC)

The Central Open Space Precinct of North Lakes is under attack,
thousands of square metres of open space land is at risk of
being lost forever! A developer wants to rezone the land, pour “
concrete over it and build 200 plus residential retirement units,
a large three storey, 24 hour aged care hospital and potentially ...it does not make any
we fear a lot of other building types will be floated by the sense to us to see a massive
developer. For us this adds up to seeing the Open Space land
being eroded and reduced down. The masterplan of North 130,000m2 of land zoned
Lakes always planned and documented that this central linear as open space sport and
open space precinct was home to the North Lakes Golf Course recreation lost forever to a
and was promoted heavily as an asset to build and live around.
There was a reasonable expectation from residents that it would large privately owned
remain free from development and at the very least remain as development.
open space.

There is other land already zoned for residential and hospital
uses that are available in and around the town centre. There
is also large retirement facilities being finished and under
construction in our suburb. With North Lakes already having a
large housing choice available (today you could buy a unit, villa,
home on small lot, townhouse, retirement unit or large house,
there is so much choice) it does not make any sense to us to
see a massive 130,000m2 of land zoned as open space sport and
recreation lost forever to a large privately owned development.

It is such a shame that the restaurant, café, bar, driving range,
golf lessons, function venue, school golf programs and golf
Interestingly the entire open space land parcel is classified as course, which saw tens of thousands of people exercising and
an easement on the land title in the council’s favour as it acts playing golf rounds every year, is shut down. Especially since
as critical engineered stormwater infrastructure. There are over willing operators are wanting to reinvigorate the course and
15 inlets flowing onto the course and draining into the central reopen a community based facility that would have something
waterway. The level of water around the course can change in for all ages, especially on the back of the past 12 months seeing
volume, depth and speed quickly with any rainfall. a trend of surging golf participation increasing all over Australia
and especially here in Queensland with nearby courses at or
We cannot reconcile that this land should have a drastic rezoning over capacity.
approved. Even the recent QC’s advice stated that the town
planning document over North Lakes may very well militate any I think everyone who walked into one of the Stockland display
application for a change of use on the land! (militate is defined villages over the past 15 years and looked at the masterplan
as “a powerful and conclusive factor in preventing”.) map would be horrified if such a large portion of the open space