Newcastle Golf Club Retirement Living Development Article
November 23, 2020
Newcastle Golf Club members have voted to proceed with a redevelopment which will convert part of the celebrated course into a seniors village. More than 80 per cent of eligible members voted for the plans at a meeting on Wednesday night. Newcastle Herald reported last year that club management had entered into a preliminary agreement with Principle Living, a joint venture involving two of the Hunter's biggest property players, the Stevens Group and McCloy Group.
Sue Mann Nursing and Community Care is also involved in the project, which covers six hectares along Nelson Bay Road at Fern Bay and includes 64 units across two four-storey towers and about 80 houses and villas. The club will receive an up-front cash payment as part of a long-term lease of the land to the developers. The commercial deal is subject to the project winning Port Stephens Council and state planning approvals.
Newcastle is regularly rated one of the top courses in Australia and is listed with the National Trust. The revised layout will include seven new or redesigned holes. The club also plans to rebuild its green and bunker complexes.
Club general manager Christian Gillott said he was not concerned the changes would ruin the course. The four holes the club was losing, the 1st, 16th, 17th and 18th, were on "flat, fairly boring golfing country", but the new holes would be on "really exciting, natural, rolling coastal sand dune". He said the club's board was pleased that a "fairly large portion" of members had supported the project.
The course work could start in mid-2022 and take about 16 months to complete. The course would stay open as an 18-hole layout during construction. Work on the seniors village would start after the course construction had finished.
newcastleherald.com.au | Michael Parris | November 12, 2020
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