Community
19 June, 2026
Golf club faces costly changes
AFTER more than four years of negotiations, the Port Fairy Golf Club is now facing costly changes to its course, including the loss of its iconic 15th tee.
According to Member for South West Coast Roma Britnell, the “state government’s bureaucratic stubbornness” has forced the club into a costly and unnecessary redesign.
“After four and a half years of negotiations, delays and rejected compromise proposals, the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) has refused every solution put forward by the club and insisted sections of the course be removed from its lease,” Ms Britnell claimed.
“The government has failed to provide any credible environmental justification for removing the land from the lease despite the course operating in its current form for decades.
“The Port Fairy Golf Club has been an outstanding and respectful custodian of this land for generations.”
Ms Britnell said the course co-exists with the surrounding environment, even managing and weeding the neighbouring Crown land.
This course attracts visitors from across the country and showcases one of Victoria’s most spectacular coastal landscapes.
“The decision will result in the loss of portions of two fairways and the club’s iconic 15th tee - a signature feature promoted in club marketing and recognised by golfers across Australia,” she said.
“The club has been operating under an expired lease for almost three years while negotiations have continued, preventing important maintenance works, delaying investment and creating uncertainty around the club’s long-term future.”
Ms Britnell raised this issue with the minister and sought a resolution.
“The concerns of the club, its members and the wider community were simply ignored,” she said.
“The disputed area amounts to approximately 120 square metres within the 1,500-hectare Belfast Coastal Reserve – around 0.001 per cent of the reserve.”
Shadow Minister for Environment Nick McGowan said a future Liberal government would act swiftly to restore certainty to the club, amend the lease to include the disputed 120 square metres, and allow the course to continue operating in its current configuration - unless compelling evidence could be produced that significant environmental harm would result.
“This is bureaucracy for bureaucracy’s sake and a complete failure of genuine community consultation,” Mr McGowan said.
“When government agencies spend four and a half years fighting a volunteer-run regional golf club over a patch of land smaller than many suburban backyards, something has gone seriously wrong.
“This decision delivers no meaningful conservation benefit while imposing significant costs on a community asset that drives tourism, supports local jobs and contributes strongly to the regional economy.”
