What he's NOT telling you

by Shane Sody

The Premier, Peter Malinauskas is remaining tight-lipped about how your Adelaide Park Lands would be affected by proposals to "re-develop" the golf courses in Possum Park /Pirltawardli (Park 1).

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, held last weekend at the fully-fenced Grange Golf Club 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 missing bits:

The South Course in Possum Park / Pirltawardli (Park 1) Original image: Still from the video documentary “Sport in Your Park Lands” by Patrick Prior

What the Premier is not telling you:

1) How long the newly developed course would need to be fenced, before, during and after the LIV golf event. The Premier has ruled out permanent fencing such as the fences around the Grange Golf Club course. Nevertheless, at Victoria Park / Pakapakanthi (Park 16) the "temporary" fencing around the Adelaide 500 motor sport site restricts access to your Park for more than five months every year.

A portion of the fencing around the Grange Golf Course, off Trimmer Parade. Pic: Google Street View

2) Whether one or more new buildings would be constructed on your Park Lands. There is already a very large clubhouse, but the Premier is on record as saying that the State Government would want to get a "return on investment" so it can be expected that a new luxury club house (and maybe a private hotel) would be part of the "re-development" plan. This would be consistent with the current Government’s pattern of building over your Park Lands at other locations.

The existing North Adelaide Golf Club building.

3) What would happen to the hundreds of significant trees dotted about the three existing golf courses.

Some of the trees on the North Adelaide golf course, on the South Course near War Memorial Drive.

4) Why he's failed to consult with the State Government's own Park Lands advisory body: Kadaltilla/ the Park Lands Authority, which is responsible for drawing up Park Lands plans that the Government continually ignores.

5) Why a planned briefing to the City Council on Monday 24 February 2024 is tagged as "confidential" when the Premier has confirmed that Greg Norman's company is the only developer involved.

6) How much it would cost to buid. Tens of millions of dollars has been suggested. The Premier says those suggestions are “not inaccurate” and he’s promised to have figures published in the State Budget.

7) How long it would take to “re-develop” a new golf course. Parts of your Possum Park / Pirltawardli (Park 1) could be off limits for a year or more, to allow for massive earth-moving.

8) How much extra you would have to pay, to play a round at the “redeveloped” course. The Premier is adamant that the newly-designed course will be commercially managed to make a “return on investment'“ to the State Government.

Changing Park Lands laws?

There is no reason why professional golfers cannot enjoy playing in your Park Lands as so many amateur golfers have done for more than a century.

Park Lands supporters would be hoping to welcome the world’s best golfers but many of us are dubious about what this would mean for your Park Lands over the 362 days per year when LIV golf is not being played.

A negative outcome for Open, Green, Public Park Lands is more than likely, because successive State Governments, especially the current Malinauskas State Government have shown little enthusiasm for protecting or restoring your Park Lands. The current Government’s recent Park Lands record offers little room for optimism.

As noted above, the Premier has been reticent about the details of his new LIV Golf plans.

However he has suggested "Park Lands laws might need to be changed".

This is surprising, because the existing Adelaide Park Lands Act 2005 has not provided any obstacle to the State Government's recent Park Lands developments, highlighted above. There is no legal protection from any State Government that is intent on whittling them away.

How it’s been received

Councillor Keiran Snape

Councillor Keiran Snape is one of the few who've pushed back on the proposal.

Cr Snape has told InDaily he wants assurances from the State Government that your Park Lands will be protected.

Cr Snape has prepared a motion for next week's Council meeting, to “at the very least, secure some protections for the park lands and some transparency for residents and ratepayers”.

His draft motion, if adopted, would have the City Council seeking:

  • “a consultation process be undertaken with residents of North Adelaide and affected stakeholders, including the North Adelaide Golf Club members, the Adelaide Park Lands Association and the Adelaide Park Lands Authority”; and

  • “that the removal of any significant trees because of a course design be kept to a minimum, and seek written commitment to preclude any increase to built form (buildings), permanent fencing of the newly developed course, and that temporary fencing be installed only for the minimum time necessary to stage the three-day event”.

UPDATE: 26 February 2025

The City Council meeting on Tuesday 25 February 2025 resolved to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the State Government, to re-develop the golf courses. The five key takeaways from debate in the City Council were:

  1. Council negotiations with the State Government will be secret;

  2. No matter what the Council wants, the State Government is putting up the millions of dollars required for LIV Golf and will have all the power in the secret negotiations;

  3. Therefore the State Government will build whatever it wants and erect fences wherever and whenever it wants, regardless of the City Council's preferences or your wishes;

  4. Significant trees will definitely be destroyed;

  5. Playing golf on your Park Lands at North Adelaide will become much more expensive as the State Government turns the course into a profit centre.

Is it a Park or a Golf course?

Possum Park / Pirltawardli (Park 1 of your Adelaide Park Lands) is both a public Park, and the home of three golf courses (North Course, South Course, and the small Par 3 course).

Possum Park /Pirltawardi (Park 1) the location of the three North Adelaide golf courses

This area of 76 hectares represents just over 10% of the entire Adelaide Park Lands. No other golf courses in Australia are located so close to a major city.

The three golf courses in your Park Lands were developed over decades, starting in 1921.

However none of the three are fenced, and you are free to walk around the golf courses, provided that you stay off the tees and greens, and take care not to get exposed to flying golf balls!

Any fencing that might be required to host a LIV Golf tournament would, of course, restrict entry to the Park. But for how long? That is just one of the things that the Premier is not prepared to tell you.

What is LIV Golf?

The name "LIV" refers to the Roman numerals for 54, the number of holes played at LIV events.

It's a World Tour of similar events, backed by the Saudi Arabian Government. Some journalists and commentators have said the LIV Golf World Tour is part of efforts by the Saudi monarchy (which has been criticized for its corruption and human rights abuses) to improve its public image through “sportswashing”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LIV_Golf

Other media coverage of this story:

The author of this article, Shane Sody, is the President of the Adelaide Park Lands Association and the editor of the semi-monthly newsletter, "Open Green Public".

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