During the Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020, local parks and trails became more popular due to restrictions in place across Melbourne. Our local community let us know the Northcote Golf Course was an important Council-owned site that should be used for mixed purposes. Following feedback from the community, Council made the decision to investigate the options for making the Northcote Golf Course available for other uses in the future.

For more information, you can view the minutes from the relevant Council meetings in the Document Library.

The Council Action Plan 2021/2022 also includes item 2-4: Undertake community consultation about the future shared use of the Northcote Golf Course land.

Shared use refers to a site being used for more than one purpose. Currently the golf course can only be accessed by people who use it to play golf. Other uses for the golf course could include activities such as walking, picnicking and exercise.

Council will be inviting input from the community from 4 November to Sunday 12 December 2021. The Your Say page will be kept updated, and you can also register to receive updates here.

Council made a decision to investigate the shared use of the Northcote Golf Course site at its meeting on 22 March 2021. This aligns with Objective 7 in Council’s Breathing Space: Open Space Strategy to make all open spaces multi-use (page 54).

‘Activating open spaces through making them multiuse has many benefits including increasing passive surveillance, providing a drawcard for people to gather, increasing the chance that they will make social connections, and increasing physical activity.’

You can read more about Council’s vision and objectives for open space in the Breathing Space: Open Space Strategy document in the Document Library.

Joint management of our parks and reserves involves Aboriginal people and our staff working together to protect our natural and cultural heritage.

As traditional custodians of the land, the Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung peoples have a unique role to care for and manage the land we now call Darebin. 

Joint management is a partnership arrangement that recognises Aboriginal people’s cultural association with a park or reserve and ensures their involvement in its management. It is about understanding and respecting Traditional Owner rights and values, taking responsibility for protecting Aboriginal cultural heritage across Darebin’s open space network.

It is also about ensuring that the knowledge and culture of Traditional Owners are recognised in the management of land.

Joint management includes working together to:

• encourage the continuing practice of traditional and contemporary Aboriginal culture in the ongoing management of parks and reserves
• enhance sustainable use of resources as part of the continuing practice
• manage and reduce impacts on areas of high cultural significance
• make decisions about park management

Council will analyse and consider all feedback received throughout the community consultation period and will present the findings at a public Council Meeting which our community may attend. The date will be advised on this project page once confirmed.

Please feel welcome to contact a member of our customer service Team on 8470 8888 or email darebinparks@darebin.vic.gov.au 

To speak to someone in your own language please contact Council’s Customer Service on 8470 8470.

The survey will close on Sunday 12 December 2021. In addition, there will be a Hearing of Submissions in early 2022 (date to be confirmed). Feedback from the survey and hearing of Submissions will be analysed and the findings presented at a Council Meeting in March, which our community may attend. Council will make a decision on the next steps at this meeting.

Council is also in discussions with the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation regarding the future of the site, and seeking their feedback in parallel to the general community consultation.

As part of our Community Engagement Policy, we have minimum standards of engagement which ensures all our consultations are accessible and inclusive. Examples of how we reach these groups include:

• Contacting schools and community groups
• Making hard copies of surveys and translations available in the top 12 languages
• Advertising in community newsletters
• Reaching out to community and faith leaders to share information
• Contacting advisory committees

We’ve been closely monitoring the survey results to make sure we have a good representation from all community members. When we’ve seen that we are missing hearing from some community groups, we make sure we reach out through our networks to engage them.

When we collate the data from the survey, we are able to analyse the location of respondents. We also use a variety of different lenses to properly understand the perceptions of different people. This includes not only looking at the location of respondents, but also whether respondents are ‘impacted users’ versus ‘people with an interest.’ When we report the results to Council, all of the relevant demographic data (including location of respondents) will be shown, as well as the different themes that emerge from impacted and interested respondents.

Council is asking for feedback from current users of the site, which includes the various golfers and clubs as they will be best placed to be able to tell us what considerations are important for them.

The survey has not been designed to garner a quantitative or numerical result. Instead it has been designed as an ideation and exploration exercise to help Council understand diverse community views into what shared use could look like. These views will inform the development of recommendations for what shared use could look like.

At this time Council is seeking to gain a broad understanding of the various view points in the community through the survey. Once that data has been analysed Council will consider further steps which may include more in depth consultation.

The Breathing Space strategy provides the overarching framework and strategic direction for public open space in the city of Darebin for the next 10 years. Council is bound to adhere to this document which provides protections against development of public open space.

Further, from a planning perspective, the land is already zoned Public Park and Recreation Zone (PPRZ) and has an Environmental Significance Overlay (ESO) and Land Subject to Inundation Overlay (LSIO) on it. These planning controls are very restrictive, and only permit uses similar to the current use.

Any changes to the PPRZ would require a Planning Scheme Amendment. The process for this involves extensive community consultation, as well as extensive evidence to justify the change. The final decision then sits with the Minister for Planning (Sate Government).

The ESO and LSIO also make it very difficult to develop the land because and development would need to ensure the environmental attributes of the site are protected and ensure the development is not going to be impacted by flooding.  These overlays both cover the majority of the site, so the development potential of this site, regardless of zoning, is very minimal. 

Please see Council’s Your Say page at https://www.yoursaydarebin.com.au/openspacelevy for more information on this topic.

The State Government Planning Guidelines for Conversion of Golf Course Land to Other Purposes are a resource for responsible authorities (i.e. Councils) to be used if a planning scheme amendment (i.e. rezoning) was being sought. Council is not seeking a planning scheme amendment as part of this consultation.

Council is committed to exploring different options for shared use at this site. This could include sharing the site at different times. Part of this consultation is for community members to bring to us their creative ideas for exploration and we encourage everyone who is considering submitting their feedback to bring to us their ideas. At this stage Council does not have a position or preference on what shared use may look like.

Golf is measured by number of rounds. Since 2011/12, participation at both of Darebin Council’s golf courses has declined by approximately 24%, or an average of 3.5% per year. This resembles a nationwide decrease in golf participation (source: Golf Australia 2018 Club Participation Report, published in 2019).

From 2015-2016 through to 2019-2020 there was an average of 18,900 rounds played per year (or an average of 51.9 rounds per day). In 2020-21, the average was 194 rounds per day.

The latest figures available to Council tell us that the number of golf rounds played at the Northcote Public Golf course in the final quarter of 2021 are as follows;

October 2021 - 4,003

November 2021 - 2,524

December 2021 - 2,536

¼ TOTAL - 9,063

January 2022 - 2,696

February 2022 - 2,450

March 2022 - 2,781

¼ TOTAL - 7,927

April 2022 - 2,504
May 2022 - 2,135

June 2022 - 1790

There are an additional three public golf courses within five kilometres of Northcote Public Golf Course:

• Yarra Bend Public Golf Course
• Studley Park Par 3 Golf Course
• Royal Park Golf Course

There has been no suggestion from Council that the golf course would be reduced to less than 9 holes. Council will consider the feedback from the community to inform any future use outcomes.

The community survey does not assume an outcome but was created in response to community members petitioning Councillors to open the Northcote Golf Course for public use, instead of keeping it solely for the use of golf. The petition tabled to Council had over 9,000 signatures.

Over the 6 years from 2014/15 through to 2019/20 the Northcote Public Golf Course cost Council just over an average of $140,000 per annum.

In the 2020/21 financial year, the cost to Council was $70,876 which is half average of the past 6 years and was 0.05% of the total expenditure of Council ($168.1M) for that year.

No decision has yet been made on what the future use of the golf course could be.

In deciding future uses of the Northcote Public Golf Course, Council will need to understand the cost implications of any proposals.

Any future proposals for the site will be subject to feasibility studies including economic impacts.

Darebin has an undersupply of open space as a whole, when compared with the benchmark of 30 square metres per capita. You can find more information on Page 34 and 101 of the Breathing Space Strategy.

Access to public sports facilities in Darebin doesn’t require membership, for example local at sports fields like:

• Mayer Park
• Merri Park
• McDonnell Park
• Pitcher Park
• All Nations park – skate park
• Northcote Aquatic and Recreation Centre (although this is under construction)

Membership is also not required to be able to play at the Northcote Public Golf Course

Council’s commitment to the Climate Emergency and biodiversity will be a key consideration in any recommendations for future use at this site. Council does believe that with effective strategic planning, solutions which protect local ecosystems, plant and animal life while also serving our community can be achieved.  

Darebin officers have contacted their Moreland counterparts so that they are aware of the consultation. There have been no discussions between Darebin Council and Moreland City Council about shared development as has been no decision on the future use of the site.

The online survey questions were prepared by Council Officers and were endorsed by Council through a resolution at the meeting in October 2021.

No decision has been made yet on the future use of the site, however we can confirm that Council does not charge people to use its public parks, unless they have been booked for exclusive use by a community group or sports club.

At this time Council is seeking to gain a broad understanding of the various view points in the community through the survey. Once that data has been analysed Council will consider further steps which may include more in depth consultation.

No decision has been made about the future use of the site, however there are currently several public courses outside of Darebin but within 5km of the Northcote Public Golf Course. There is also one other public golf course within the city of Darebin, located at Bundoora Park Public Golf Course.

Council can measure the number of rounds of golf played at the golf course, and visits to the site during lockdown were measured anecdotally.

At this stage we are asking the community for their thoughts and feedback on shared use options. Currently no decision has been made.

A wide range of methods have been used for this consultation, including a letter box drop to over 5,000 households and extensive social media and newsletter coverage.

Longer responses may be included in ‘Do you have any other comments’ section of the survey.

At this time Council is seeking to gain a broad understanding of the various view points in the community through the survey. Once that data has been analysed Council will consider further steps which may include more in depth consultation.

Any decisions on the future use of the site will consider many factors, including current and past use of the site, existing policies and strategies on the provision of open space, and community desire for additional open space. The Breathing Space Strategy has identified that even though there are many parks and open spaces in Darebin, there is generally an undersupply for the needs of the existing and future populations. Regional parks such as Edwardes Lake Park, All Nations Park and Bundoora Park are generally expected to attract people from further away due to the level of facilities and assets they contain. There is also a need for local parks close to people’s homes.

We are asking the community to share their ideas and thoughts, and if you would like to see this option considered, you can include it in your survey response.

For a six-month period (prior to covid) the Northcote Public Golf Course (NPGC) and the Bundoora Public Golf Course (BPGC) collected data from users on gender, which showed that at both locations, an average of 14% of the participants were female and 86% were male.

For a six-month period (prior to covid) the Northcote Public Golf Course (NPGC) and the Bundoora Public Golf Course (BPGC) collected postcode data from users, recording that at the NPGC, 41% of users were from Darebin, and 24% of BPGC users were from Darebin.

Any proposals on the future use of the site would consider the space through a gender equity and inclusion lens, and how we can ensure the space is inviting and safe for all park users. A full gender and equity impact assessment will be completed for any proposals.

Any proposals will include an environmental assessment aligned with Council’s priorities around the Climate Emergency and sustainability.

Any proposed changes to the site will be guided by relevant Council policies and strategies, including the Breathing Space Strategy.

During the Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020, local parks and trails became more popular due to restrictions in place across Melbourne. Our local community let us know the Northcote Golf Course was an important Council-owned site that should be used for mixed purposes. Following feedback from the community, Council made the decision to investigate the options for making the Northcote Golf Course available for other uses in the future.