Residents fire up on course threat

Andrew Mathieson
HOMES are at risk of bushfire in urban Geelong if a disused golf course goes up in flames this summer, a councillor has warned.
Stretch Kontelj said his ward constituents had told him they feared that fairways left dormant for years at the former Geelong Golf Club were now a fire hazard.
But developer Living Links rejected their fears, saying the dozens of hectares earmarked for a residential estate were under control.
Cr Kontelj said conditions ensured thick grass on the disused course was “going to be a tinderbox” over summer.
He believed the condition of the course should alarm the CFA.
“It really is like just unkempt bushland now in the middle of Geelong,” Cr Kontelj said.
“There are 150 acres there in the middle of a residential area.
“If that was to go up in flames, we’d have a potential major safety issue.”
Cr Kontelj said grasses and other plants on the former course had flourished amid heavier-than-predicted winter rain this year.
Cr Kontelj slammed Links Living for “intentionally running down” the site.
The developer has been sitting for years on plans for 200 homes and 120 retirement units on the site.
Links Living bought the site from the former golf club after it ran into financial difficulties, leading to a public outcry over the loss of the course and the redevelopment plans. Geelong’s council voted to send the proposed housing development to then Victorian Planning Minister Rob Hulls in 2006 for approval.
Cr Kontelj called on Links Living to clean up the site.
“The owners need to take greater responsibility in the lead-up to the fire season and give assurances they are going to keep the site in a safe state.”
Cr Kontelj said he had sought “urgent” talks with the developer about its plans for summer.
The company had appointed former Geelong mayor Shane Dowling as a consultant to deal with council, Cr Kontelj said.
Mr Dowling, as a councillor, told disgruntled former club members that council had no say in stopping the course sale.
Cr Kontelj said council could have saved the site but Living Links had rejected its offer.
Links Living issed a two-sentence response to the concerns of Cr Kontelj and residents.
“The recent rain and burst of hot weather has caused a spurt of grass growth on all sites in Geelong and across the state,” company spokesman Ron Smith said.
“Links Living will be taking the appropriate action to coordinate its slashing of grass to prepare the site for summer, with work beginning in November, as it has always been scheduled ,following a similar timing to council preparations for the upcoming fire season.”