Golf in Park 1

The Premier, Peter Malinauskas, has a vision: that your Park Lands must be profit centres, and that therefore Open, Green, Public land (as well as trees and biodiversity) must be subservient, or sacrificed to money-making imperatives, such as LIV golf.

Golf enthusiasts and politicians including the Lord Mayor, Jane Lomax-Smith have welcomed the Premier's announcement that the State Government wants have one or more of the three golf courses in Park 1 "re-developed" by a multi-national company led by former champion golfer Greg Norman.

The three-day "LIV Golf Adelaide" event, has been held in recent years at the fully-fenced Grange Golf Club. In February 2025 it attracted a total crowd of 102,483 fans over its three days.

The event is scheduled to be held again at Grange in 2026 and 2027 before (under the Premier’s plan) it would be moved to your "re-developed" Park 1 in time for the event to be repeated annually from 2028 to at least 2031.

The Premier is remaining tight-lipped about how your Adelaide Park Lands would be affected by the proposed development. However he has indirectly confirmed that the project would be driven by commercial (not environmental) imperatives.

In a letter to the Adelaide Park Lands Association (dated 28 March 2025) the Premier deflected questions about:

the likely loss of many significant trees ("every effort will be made to minimise any tree removal"), and
the scope and duration of "temporary" fencing ("we would look to minimise the time temporary fencing is up").

However his response to a question about new and/or larger commercial buildings did not use the same language. There was not even a suggestion from the Premier that new buildings would be "minimised".

Rather, the Premier merely said that "no decision has been made" about buildings on a “re-developed” Possum Park / Pirltawardli (Park 1).

Losing trees and other biodiversity, large new buildings, new car parks, five months or more each year erecting “temporary” stands and fences; all this, and more is on the table to turn Possum Park / Pirltawardli (Park 1 of your Adelaide Park Lands) into a profit-generator.

The Premier’s response to questions about the costs of new golf course plans, the re-development time-line, and public consultation are all deflected by promising answers only when "draft designs are available.”

No Premier, it's not about the DESIGN

For Park Lands supporters, the fundamental question about the proposed golf course re-development is not about the layout or design.

It's about the Premier's vision that your Park Lands must be profit centres, and therefore access to your Open, Green, Public land (as well as protection for trees and biodiversity) must be subservient, or sacrificed to the money-making imperative.

The biodiversity of Possum Park

Citizen scientists who’ve uploaded their observations to iNaturalist have (so far) found 86 species on or around the North Adelaide golf courses in Possum Park/ Pirltawardli (Park 1)

What would the commercialisation push entail?

Previous proposals to re-develop the North Adelaide golf courses, considered by the City Council in 2018, put likely costs at up to $56 million, and envisaged that these costs would be recouped over a 25-30 year time frame, not solely by increasing green fees, but mostly from commercial rents on "offices and meeting rooms" as well as a "restaurant, function space and two bar areas operating seven days per week.”

*The “Conclusions” from* *a previously-secret 2018 consultant’s report* *to the Adelaide City Council.*

The Adelaide Park Lands Association will not be providing a commentary on where fairways, greens, tees and water hazards should be located on a “re-developed” golf course. That's not among our concerns.

Rather, we are be focussed on challenging the Premier’s fundamental assumption that your Parks should turn a profit for the State as a developer.

When a proposed design for the Greg Norman - Peter Malinauskas golf course is eventually released, (with, no doubt, pretty pictures of stunning new buildings) then questions about the loss of trees and other biodiversity, the extent of fencing, new roads and car parks cutting into your Park Lands, and how it might affect the important Kaurna heritage location will inevitably become part of the debate.

However these second-order issues will nor divert us from challenging the Premier’s commercialisation assumption.

Possum Park Protection Platoon

A public meeting at North Adelaide on 29 March 2025 generated enthusiasm for a new action group, intending to protect Park 1 of your Adelaide Park Lands from the Premier's full-on commercialisation plans.

Part of the crowd at the public meeting, 29 March 2025

Speakers at the public meeting: (from left): Keith Preston, Sarah Russo, Cr Phillip Martin, and Shane Sody

The Premier’s words (from his letter of 28 March) were read to the meeting. Very few in the audience were prepared to give the Premier the benefit of the doubt, given his insistence that the needs of a proposed professional-level golf course would dictate outcomes for your Park Lands; and his Government’s record of seven Park Lands attacks over the past three years.

The meeting was told that the Premier’s vision would require even more commercial facilities than the Council consultants envisaged in 2018, because:

construction costs in 2025-26 would be much higher than they would have been in 2018;
the Premier’s vision (involving Greg Norman designing a course) is grander than consultants put to the City Council in 2018; and yet
the Premier says "there are no plans to increase the cost of playing a round, outside of normal CPI increases."

*Media coverage of the meeting on Saturday 29 March 2025*

That leads inevitably to the conclusion that to get the Premier's desired "return on investment" in your Park Lands, many new commercial operations will be embedded permanently in Possum Park, each one taking away a slice of your Open, Green, Public land.

Construction: at least five months per year

The Grange golf course (pictured above) is surrounded by permanent fencing, so contractors do not need to install any temporary fencing at Grange. It would be different at North Adelaide, where your Park 1 is unfenced.

Nevertheless, just installing and dismantling the temporary stands and other infrastructure within the Grange golf course takes five months each year (October to March) affecting nearby residents with noisy, 24-hour work and semi-trailer movements seven days per week, even overnight.

How much longer and disruptive would it be when in addition to the all the infrastructure that has been required at Grange (installed and dismantled over s five-month period) contractors would also have to install many kilometres of temporary fencing as well?

What can you do?

There is a new “Possum Park Protection Platoon” of activist volunteers. Can you assist us in planning or carrying out some type of activism? Contact our Executive Officer, David Winderlich executive@adelaide-parklands.asn.au