Balyang Par 3 to stay on course as city backs 9-hole minimum

THE City of Greater Geelong has committed to ensuring Balyang Par 3 Golf Course retains at least a 9-hole short course offering, as it considers future leasing opportunities for the site.

The decision, announced at the council’s meeting on Tuesday, follows almost 12 months of advocacy from the Newtown facility’s membership and the broader community, who continue to call for the course’s “unique offering” to be saved from redevelopment.

The city first proposed the lease of the site to a new tenant able to transform the facility into “an exciting golf product” in August last year, a strategic move Cr Anthony Aitken on Tuesday said was motivated by funding constraints and a desire to see greater diversity in the facilities on offer to the region.

“We really want to drive opportunities at each of our [golf] courses, and the reason why we wanted opportunity is because council’s got limited funds to invest and upgrade the courses themselves.”

He said the council was optimistic it could reinvigorate the city’s golfing assets, while continuing to offer facilities suitable for young players, those new to the game, and those with mobility restrictions.

“We’ve listened to the community… and we’ve actually now made it quite clear that any proposal that comes forward after tonight’s decision… requires a minimum of nine holes and we’re stating that in the tender documents.

“Disneyland’s not going to be built on that particular site because we’re putting conditions on it to try to blend and compromise our ambitions as a council, in terms of managing the site location, [with] the community interest.”

Ahead of the decision, Troy Freeman, the leader of the community campaign against the redevelopment of the site, presented a 1,000-signature petition calling for course’s protection to the council.

“That course is critical for a lot of people who go down there for exercise, social, mental wellbeing, and if it were to be converted into a driving range, they’d be left with nowhere else to go,” he said.

“I’m really pleading for you guys to look at who actually goes down there, what the facilities are used for and save it for those people.”