A fight is brewing between members of the Lane Cove Golf Club and Lane Cove Council. The parties are in the process of negotiating a new lease. However, it appears that negotiations have come to a stalemate.
The two biggest issues are:
- Lane Cove Council refuses to rule out any changes to the Golf Course footprint or reduction in green space; and
- Lane Cove Council has removed the Lane Cove Golf Club’s Blocked Booking Times (enabling the club to have guaranteed times to run a competition).
Lane Cove Golf Club
The Lane Cove Golf Club was established in 1964 and the members of the Lane Cove Golf Club turned a tip into a golf course. During the 2004 drought, the Lane Cove Golf Club Members hand watered the greens. You can read more about the history of the Golf Club here.
The Lane Cove Golf Club has Blocked Booking Times on:
Tuesday 8:45-9:25am & 10:45-11:25am
Wednesday 11:20-1:00pm & 1:20-3:00pm
Thursday 8:45-10:00am & 10:45-12:00pm
Saturday 8:00-9:00am, 10:00-11:00am, 11:00-12:30pm & 1:00-2:30pm
Sunday 8:45-9:35am, 10:45-11:35am & 12:30-1:15pm
The rest of the time the Lane Cove Golf Course is open to the public.
The public bookings for the golf course are managed by Sydney Sports Management Group. You may not be aware that the golf course is a public course, as other than a web site, very little (if any) local public advertising is undertaken by the course operators. They do not have a Facebook page or Instagram site (unlike Chatswood Golf Course). Pamphlets are not left in your letterbox (unlike the tennis court programmes that are run by the same operator). They have not tried to encourage other uses of the golf course by locals. Northbridge Golf Club has introduced FootGolf. How much fun would that be to play after work during daylight savings? These are all steps the current operator could take to promote an active lifestyle in Lane Cove and other uses for the golf club that have a great community impact at a local level. A golf course is not just about making money it is a community green space asset.
The Lane Cove Golf Club is working hard to increase the profile of junior golf in Lane Cove. Last year, for only the second time in many years, the Club has been able to field an Encourage Shield team, an inter-club competition for junior golfers. Over the five weeks of competition, their young golfers were lucky enough to play on some fabulous, top-class courses in Sydney. You can find out more here.
Apparently, there have been over 30 meetings with the Lane Cove Council on the lease issue. This is a waste of time and resources. The Lane Cove Council is digging in on blocked book times, but what have they done to see that this is a huge public issue?
The Lane Cove Council has not surveyed members of the public to see if they are in fact interested in playing golf during the blocked booking times (bearing in mind they can hit the golf course on Saturday and Sunday before and after the blocked booking times). Without blocked booking times, the Lane Cove Golf Club is not able to hold competitions. Surely the people who have nurtured the golf course since its beginning (including wonderful people like 97-year-old golf Margaret Tanner) are entitled to some certainty and to hold competitions.
Green Space
The Lane Cove Golf Course is an important green space. People walk their dogs around the golf course. People run around the golf course. The benefits of local green space cannot be discounted.
Golf and Tennis Court Clubs Renovations
Does the club room and tennis centre need renovating? Absolutely. There is enough space on the current site (without reducing the golf course footprint) to build a multi-function sport and cultural/function centre with parking. This centre could meet so many needs. There could be a full-size basketball court and netball courts. Tennis courts could be on top of the building. A performance space could be included in the building for dance schools, theatre companies, charity movie nights and much more. Many local groups use the current club house for their functions. The Lane Cove Council needs to work with the public and the Lane Cove Golf Club to come to an arrangement. At one stage one of the most ridiculous idea ITC has ever seen floated by the council was a suggestion that a redevelopment clubhouse include a fencing facility.
What do you think? We need to do everything we can to save the green space. ITC would love to see a redeveloped club house (without units).
The Lane Cove Golf Club is a gold sponsor of ITC. We work with them to raise awareness of the function centre. You can find out more about the function centre here. #itcgoldsponsor
Do you have a local issue you would like help with? ITC is here to help, just email us at [email protected]
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