Fairbairn golf course spared in Defence sell-off, 65ha

The club has fought the sell-off since February, when the government flagged its plan to divest 68 Defence properties. The latest decision sits in the Defence Estate Audit update.

Katy Gallagher, Finance Minister and ACT senator, said community feedback and the site’s particular constraints drove the outcome, Region Canberra says. The club’s case was that PFAS contamination, plus the site’s closeness to Canberra Airport and Defence’s live-firing range, made redevelopment unsuitable.

The numbers

Figures from Region Canberra:

• The site covers 65 hectares.
• The February announcement involved 68 Defence properties.

What’s next

Who would buy the land if it can only be a golf course is the unanswered question. Club president Brian Depree told Region Canberra he would rather the government sold the land to the club for a nominal sum, letting it continue as a not-for-profit community club.

Depree said the land no longer appealed as a development prospect, and that the course would only work financially as a members-only operation with higher fees. He said: “If you have to double the fees, it becomes a members-only”.

On 11 December he is due to meet Finance officials about next steps. He hopes they bring outline options and wants a process that avoids pushing fees up.

Alicia Payne, the Member for Canberra, has backed the campaign and, per Region Canberra, praised the community’s advocacy. She said Canberrans would keep a public golf course.

Depree’s preferred outcome is for the government to hand the land to the club on condition it stays a community golf club, run by the current not-for-profit association. He said that would solve a problem for the government and take the land off Defence’s books. Depree called the commitment that Fairbairn remains a golf club a first step. Ownership and the club’s operating terms stay open until the Finance talks conclude.

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