KINGSTON Council will refuse to consider the proposed redevelopment of Aspendale’s Rossdale Golf Course until receiving advice from the planning minister.
Earlier this year, the Rossdale Golf Club consulted with its members on a proposed redevelopment of the site. Club members agreed to relocate in 2018. The 43.5 hectare Aspendale site is currently zoned “special use zone”, and would need to be rezoned to allow for development.
In June, Kingston Council publicly called for the plans to be halted and flagged concerns about the process being undertaken. On Monday, 23 October, Kingston councillors voted to ask the planning minister to review the planning guidelines for conversion of golf course land to other purposes “in light of clear risks presented on existing golf course sites such as the Rossdale in relation to established cultural heritage, environmental values and flooding.”
Councillors also voted to “make clear to the proponent of the Rossdale Golf Course that council will not progress further with consideration of the information it has submitted until it has received a response from the minister for planning.”
The request to the planning minister was an alternative to the original advice provided by Kingston Council officers. Council officers had recommended asking the state government’s golf course redevelopment standing advisory committee to get involved.
A report written by Kingston Council officers read that council was concerned that steps outlined in the state government’s planning guidelines for the conversion of golf course land to other purposes had not been properly taken. “These matters are deemed to be threshold issues which should be satisfied prior to the further consideration of a planning scheme amendment to contemplate a re-zoning of the land for other purposes. Whilst council has concerns regarding the above matters, the proponent does not share these,” council officers wrote.
“On 31 July, tract consultants on behalf of the Rossdale Golf Club corresponded with council to request that council liaise with the Department of Transport and Planning to seek advice, and that the appointment of the golf course redevelopment standing advisory committee may also be able to assist in providing advice to resolve council’s concerns.”
The four steps council is concerned have not been addressed are: “consider whether the land should be redeveloped, identify the strategic direction for the site, determine what assessments and approvals are required,” and “document site values, constraints and opportunities.”
The golf course redevelopment standing advisory committee was first appointed in 2019. It has assessed the proposed redevelopment plans for the Dingley Village Kingswood Golf Course. In September planning minister Sonya Kilkeny announced that the site would be rezoned for development, and the committee released its report on the Kingswood proposal.
Kingston Council officers wrote that the published committee report “has aided in understanding the application of the guidelines”.
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 25 October 2023