Campaigners call for support

The battle to save North Lakes golf course land is heating up with campaigners rallying support against new plans.

Save North Lakes Golf Course (SNLGC) is urging residents to join them again and help get “the whole course brought back to life”.

It follows a development application (DA) lodged with Moreton Bay City Council for a 68-bay driving range, on around 2.1 hectares of the former 18-hole course.

The bays would be in a 120m-long, two-storey building. There would also be a pro shop, bar, restaurant, conference/function facilities and 141 car parking spaces.

It comes almost two years after a huge public campaign by SNLGC forced the course owners to ditch plans for retirement and care home developments.

SNLGC said of the latest DA: “This isn’t just about putting in a driving range on a different part of the course as our goal is to see the whole course brought back to life.

“What happens with the rest of the land is still uncertain, but we trust Moreton Bay City Council to make the right call on this DA.

“It’s also encouraging to see the community getting involved, with many already submitting their views on the proposed development to Council.”

While seen as a “welcome change” from the high-density housing and home care, SNLGC says it still does not “deliver on our community expectations”.

SNLGC says the Mango Hill Infrastructure Development Control Plan (DCP) for North Lakes calls for a “comprehensive and integrated system of open space”.

The latest proposal is described as a “piecemeal development” which would “chop the former golf course in two”.

Concerned resident David Orr said the driving range plan was a "another slap in the face for the North Lakes community”.

“It is poorly thought through and designed to maximise revenue at the expense of residents,” he said.

“By allowing (yet another) piecemeal development it would be an attempt to find a convenient way around the DCP which calls for a 'comprehensive and integrated' approach to the land.

“Council must realise they are the custodians of the Master Plan (DCP) that the founding fathers of our beautiful suburb put in place over 20 years ago and refuse this application."

SNLGA, which has a private group Facebook page, is urging residents to send submissions opposing the development to Moreton Bay City Council.

North Lakes Resort Golf Club closed in 2018 and the land sold to The Village Retirement Group, which in 2022 proposed 250 retirement homes and a 120-bed care homes.

The application was withdrawn in 2023 the day before it was to go before a full Council meeting.

For more visit www.savenorthlakes.com.au