Tuesday, 25 February, 2025
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A COMMON SENSE VISION KCG Relocation Project $60m $59m 1600 $1.3B 7160 84
new Keysborough Golf Club first stage of community sports precinct (SESH) new homes economic impact FTE jobs supported in construction hectares of public green space created
MATT WINDLEY Sometimes there are ideas that have too much common sense to ignore. The Keysborough Golf Club (KGC) relocation project is one of those. The KGC wants to move to realise a long-term sustainable future. Community sports clubs in South East Melbourne need access to more pitches, fields and courts. Melbourne desperately needs more welllocated homes, and there is a site in Keysborough that is more than appropriate for development. And there is a swathe of under-utilised, inaccessible brown wedge land in the City of Greater Dandenong (CGD) that is crying out to be enhanced. This project can make all of these things happen. But the elements are interwoven each cannot happen without the others also falling into place. Yet as it stands, there is no avenue for this project to even be assessed let alone approved. In 2015 the cash-strapped KGC membership voted to relocate 2km south to Bangholme on the promise of delivery of a $60 million modern-age facility. The Club can’t afford to make the necessary upgrades to its existing course itself. So to implement its relocation project it partnered with Intrapac Property. It is proposed that up to 1600 homes will be built on the current KGC site, leveraging Intrapac’s award-winning Somerfield Estate nearby. The new houses would be located in the midst of Keysborough’s existing public infrastructure and amenities. Accompanying the project would be a $59 million sports facility that won’t cost the cashstrapped State Government a cent. Better yet, the South East Sports Hub (SESH), which would be almost next door to the new KGC, is proposed to be gifted to the local Council once built. The community also needs more publiclyaccessible green space to be able to enjoy passive recreation, particularly in an area such as CGD which experiences some of Victoria’s lowest levels of key health and wellbeing indicators. This project will create 84 hectares of it. 12750239-MC08-25
This project is teeming with potential community benefit. But at the moment there is no mechanism to bring the concept to life, a concept that is projected to have a $1.3 billion impact on the local economy and support more than 7000 jobs. Chief among the reasons why is the quirky positioning of the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB). The UGB was a line that was meant to guide future growth and be reviewed periodically to ensure its relevance is maintained. Right now there is no mechanism to consider common sense adjustments such as this, at a time when land supply for homes is at historical lows. This means a once-in-a-generation plan that would save the historic KGC, give more than 5000 people somewhere to live, provide fields and courts for thousands of local kids to play sports, and convert hectares of neglected, inaccessible brown space into beautiful, usable green space for the community to enjoy cannot even be technically assessed as there is no available pathway to do so. That’s not to say that this proposal does not present some legitimate questions that need to be answered. Can the area handle increased traffic? All new residential traffic will flow through Springvale Road and Hutton Road, which both have ample capacity to accommodate this increased demand. There will be no road connections to, or any effect had on, existing local streets. Is the SESH and new KGC being built on a floodplain? No, the State Government’s modelling says it is not. And while the area in its current form has been inundated in the past, any new development on the site will of course be properly engineered and fitted with suitable landscaping and drainage to meet Council and State requirements. Isn’t this just a ploy to make developers millions of dollars? Of course there are companies that stand to financially benefit from the project, but that’s how our economy works - the property sector is no exception, infrastructure doesn’t get built otherwise. Won’t this leave the KGC temporarily without a home? No. The new course must be built and then satisfy strict playability criteria before play on the existing course ceases, enabling an interruption-free transfer.
Local footballers, cricketers, golfers and families are in support of the KGC Relocation, pictured with Project Ambassador, Matildas legend Theresa Deas (centre). Picture: Anita Milas. And won’t this be a precedent that will create an existential threat to the Green Wedge? There is no slippery slope here. The UGB and Green Wedge are useful tools in guiding development and protecting important environmental and agricultural values where they exist. But it is also untrue to suggest that the current UGB was formed with perfect science, or that there shouldn’t be merit-based considerations to change it on a case-by-case basis by State and local leaders of the day. This project isn’t about building a bunch of new houses and infrastructure in the middle of pristine, environmentally valuable green land. This is about putting homes in a well-serviced area that was originally meant to be inside the UGB and currently has housing to its immediate north, east and south-west, completing an infill area that was historically meant to be a residential zone. This is about converting dilapidated and underutilised brown land into usable, more
ecologically sound green space that can be enjoyed by the community and local fauna and flora species alike. Where are our future generations going to live, work and play within CGD if we don’t keep pace with population growth and demands? The State Government of the day should be trusted to make common sense calls on the positioning of the UGB to serve the best interests of its constituents. This is one of those decisions. The KGC wants to move. Intrapac wants to build affordable homes. And privately-funded, public sports facilities are waiting to be built. Why would we not consider this idea on its merits? It is time for the CGD and State Government to enable this project to run its course through a technical approval process. Matt Windley is a former Herald Sun journalist who helped run the South East Melbourne A-League bid campaign