Public meeting to raise concerns about new North Adelaide golf course
The Adelaide Park Lands Association has organised a public meeting with plans to challenge what it says is a “lack of information” about a new golf course development in North Adelaide to accommodate LIV Golf.
Shane Sody, who is president of the Adelaide Park Lands Association, said that despite much publicity from the Premier around plans to build a new golf course in North Adelaide for LIV Golf, little in terms of details has been released so far.
“He’s given no indication of how many significant trees have to be chopped down, how long Park 1 would need to be fenced and the extent of fencing, how many new buildings and what size they would be, or how much it would cost,” he said.
The meeting will be held at the North Adelaide Community Centre on Saturday afternoon with a capacity of 100 people.
Sody said he expects a full house because “everyone who values the Adelaide Park Lands as open, green public space has an interest in protecting them”.
The meeting will be chaired by City of Adelaide councillor Keiran Snape, who recently spoke out with his own concerns around the new golf course, including human rights concerns about LIV Golf’s major sponsor and threats to public access to green space.
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Other speakers will include former golfer Keith Preston, councillor Philip Martin, and Sody and Sarah Russo from the Adelaide Park Lands Association.
Sody said Adelaide MP Lucy Hood was invited and was unable to attend, but that they were told they would receive a statement from the Premier to read at the meeting.
Among the concerns the organisers expect to be raised are the potential loss of century-old trees, threats to biodiversity during the development, fencing around the park lands, new buildings replacing open, green public areas and concerns about how much it will cost the taxpayer.
Sody said he does not want to anticipate the outcome of the meeting, but that it may result in an activist campaign.
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He said that the Adelaide Park Lands Association is “not opposed to anything” but is in favour of “open, green public park lands”.
“To the extent that something is not consistent with parks being open, green and public, then it should be characterised as an attack on open, green, public park lands,” he said.
Sody said he hopes the meeting will make the government take note of community support for the Adelaide Park Lands.
“The government so far has shown no indication of respecting or protecting our Adelaide Park Lands – we hope that either following this meeting or soon afterwards, the government realises what they would be risking,” he said.
Premier Peter Malinauskas unveiled plans for a new golf course in North Adelaide in February as part of SA’s bid to host LIV Golf until 2031.
“We see a big opportunity in North Adelaide,” Malinauskas said at the time.
“Getting LIV Golf into the city unlocks yet more economic potential.
“We want to make it easy for patrons and guests coming from interstate and overseas by having golf in the CBD on a world championship, Greg Norman-designed golf course.
“We will now have something that is globally unique… to have the world’s best golfers teeing off on one of the world’s best public golf courses in the middle of a metropolitan city.”
