Kingston Council is locked in a bitter stalemate with Rossdale Golf Club over its plans to redevelop its Aspendale course after council declared it would use its powers to enter the golf course for survey work. The club has been working towards a rezoning and sale of the club golf land to fund a relocation to a new and more contemporary course as the club was not profitable enough to remain viable at its current home.
For the past 12 months Rossdale said it had been seeking to engage the council on the rezoning of the club’s privately owned land and “has been refused any reasonable opportunity to do so”. Instead, the council has been pushing to undertake an environmental audit of the biodiversity of the area, with requests having been made since late last year. But the club has knocked back the council’s offers “on the basis that it would prefer as a first step the opportunity to discuss the full plans for the course with the council including proposed environmental initiatives”. “The club also offered to supply its biodiversity reports to the council for review. These offers have not been taken up by the council,” the club said in a statement.
But the council has refused to bow to the club’s position and has now taken the extraordinary step in saying it would exercise its powers under the local government act to enter the golf course, despite being refused permission from Rossdale. The council said it had previously communicated to both the club and the community, and that it remained “determined to undertake this important work”.
Kingston mayor Georgina Oxley said a thorough environmental assessment was an “essential step” before any talks began on the golf course’s future. “Sometimes tough decisions need to be made to act in the best interests of our community,” she said. “We have let the Rossdale Golf Course know Council will be entering the site to conduct an important environmental audit. We had tried to work with them, but after several refusals, we were left with no choice but to enact our powers to enter the site.”
Rossdale is however pushing back by formally questioning the basis on which the council has appointed the environmental consultants as authorised officers. “We believe there is no administrative function being performed by the consultants and the use of authorised officers in this way is an inappropriate appointment under local government regulations,” the club’s statement read.
The club also noted that any survey work on the course required coordination around different tournaments and events at the course. “We also require health and safety matters to be properly addressed for any persons on the course,” it said. “It is regrettable that the council has at this time resorted to a doubtful and non-consultative path to assess the merits of a rezoning of the Rossdale golf course. “The club however remains ready to meet with the council to show the full nature of the proposed development and its environmental and biodiversity initiatives.”
Kingston Council has conducted similar audits in the past including at the former Kingswood Golf Course in Dingley Village, “to ensure environmental factors are properly considered in planning decisions”. “While council remains committed to undertaking this assessment, we continue to hope for a collaborative approach with the club to minimise any disruption to its members and players,” the council said.
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 19 February 2025
