______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10th October, 2007
PROGRESS:
The rezoning of our golf club land and the land now owned by Gippsland Links has now been formally listed in the Government Gazzette. This listing sees the first rezoning to “Comprehensive Development Zone” in the Wellington Shire.
THE
NEXT PHASES:
· Application for Planning Permission: Detail is being compiled now by Beca (Project management consultants) and will soon be forwarded to Wellington Shire Council. There are in fact two applications, one for subdivision of the housing allotments and the other for our golf course construction. Works cannot commence until both of these have been approved, this is because one task may impact on the other, hence approval for both is essential.
· Approved Cultural Heritage Plan: Under recent upgrade of the Aboriginal Heritage Act (May 2007) the developers now need to provide a Cultural Heritage Plan, it is likely that Ramahyuk will be empowered to approve such plans and if this is so, as they have been involved in earlier excavation works at the site, we hope for approval to accompany the Planning Application. (This approval may take up to 4 months.)
· Agreement on Composite Courses: Further discussions with course architect Ross Perrett were held in Melbourne on Oct 8th. These discussions show that we'll likely see just two composite courses used during construction. Both of these will be of similar course length to our present layout, so should see course ratings managed OK. There is high likelihood that our 8th hole will be modified during the very early days of construction, this to allow safe vehicle access into the new land. The entry will likely be just in front of our 8th tee block, so we'll probably shorten 8th with a temporary tee (properly constructed) to allow this access.
· Water: The all important question of water! Specialist consultants are now being engaged by Thomson Perret to study options for irrigation water supply to the new course layout. Most likely option is that our existing bore will be re-drilled into another aquafer to provide higher quantity. Use will also continue of our licence on the Long Waterhole. New pumping equipment and mains will of course be laid, but in the period of construction of the nine new holes to west of our course, irrigation supply will come from our dam via new pumping equipment.
· Domestic Water: Detailed discussion will now commence with Gippsland Water on the supply of domestic water from Sale to the new site. Agreement in principal has been obtained prior to application for rezoning, now the finite detail and piping size and route will be agreed upon.
· Turf Grasses: Discussions held on 8th October have seen us arrive at use of Couch grass fairways, Bent grass greens and a mixture of Fine Fescue and Bent for surrounds. Just which particular type of Couch is selected for our fairways, will be arrived at in the next few months. We are to visit some sites to view recent trials and uses of different varieties. Our Curator Darren Felmingham will have involvement in this process.
HOW
SOON WILL
WE SEE
ACTION?
BECA advise that most likely we will see approval allowing construction to commence in about May 2008, but this is dependant upon progress thru the approval process. The developers are eager to get underway and assure us that no stone will be left unturned in efforts to get these approvals.
WATCH
THIS SPACE:
As progress is made, we are committed to keeping our members advised of where we are. As such, bulletins like this will be posted regularly (driven by available content for the bulletins...) at this spot alongside the master plan of the project.
Beca have now committed to updates on progress every 2 weeks, so as news comes, it will be posted here.
Author:
Alan Wyatt 10th October, 2007
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
11th November, 2007
PROGRESS:
Good progress is being made in the areas requiring work to supplement the application for Planning Permission.
· Approved Cultural Heritage Plan: Ramahyuck have not yet been officially appointed as “Registered Aboriginal Party” thus allowing them to approve the Cultural Heritage Management Plan. This approved plan is necessary for the Planning Permits to be approved.
Gippsland Links P/L have appointed Tardis Enterprises to coordinate this work with Ramahyuck. (Tardis prepared the detailed report which formed part of rezoning application.)
· Appointment of Surveyor: The developers have contracted Beveridge Williams & Co as surveyors for the project.
These works will commence from 12th November and are expected to take some 3 weeks. Members will see some presence of surveyors and their vehicles and equipment on our course during this period, we ask that all courtesy be extended them to assist with these necessary works.
· Project Web Page: The developers are in final stages of a web page covering the project development. This page will have a link from our Sale Golf Club web site and will allow members with access to the web, to get updates as they appear on the page.
· Marketing Strategy: The developers are working with Chalmer Real Estate to plan a strategy for marketing of the residential allotments. These discussions are also including work on a selectioon of titles for the estate. Our club will be involved in the selection of the title.
· Water: The all important question of water! Specialist consultants are now being engaged by Thomson Perret to study options for irrigation water supply to the new course layout. Most likely option is that our existing bore will be re-drilled into another aquifer to provide higher quantity. Use will also continue of our licence on the Long Waterhole. New pumping equipment and mains will of course be laid, but in the period of construction of the nine new holes to west of our course, irrigation supply will come from our dam via new pumping equipment.
· Domestic Water: Detailed discussions are now under way with Gippsland Water on the supply of domestic water from Sale to the new site. Agreement in principal has been obtained prior to application for rezoning, now the finite detail and piping size and route will be agreed upon. There are two broad options for the piping route, one being from Tylers Rd Wurruk which would see an extension heading across the wetland and entering to the West of our land. The other is a new pipeline following the Sth Gippsland Highway out to Longford. Wellington Shire are also involved in these discussions.
· Landcare involvement: An approach is being made by Longford Landcare group to see if they may become involved in the planting of trees on the redevelopment site. Early days for this yet, but it may well be that this group assists in the planting of early wind-break barriers to the West of the new land.
· Formal Project Agreement: Negotiations are taking place to prepare a formal agreement for the development between Gippsland Links and Sale Golf Club. This agreement supercedes the Heads of Agreement we had to facilitate Rezoning. The Project Agreement will set out in considerable detail the project, its' phases, its' financing and will be formally signed by the Directors of Gippsland Links and for our club by President and Chairman of Redevelopment Committee prior to any title swaps and/or works being undertaken.
WHAT
ABOUT
ACTUAL
CONSTRUCTION?
BECA (Project Managers) are optimistic that construction should commence in about May 2008, but this is dependant upon progress thru the approval process. The developers are most eager to get underway and assure us that no stone will be left unturned in efforts to get these approvals.
WATCH
THIS
SPACE:
As progress is made, we are committed to keeping our members advised of where we are. As such, bulletins like this will be posted regularly (driven by available content for the bulletins...) at this spot and alongside the master plan of the project in the clubhouse.
Beca have now committed to updates on progress every 2 weeks, so as news comes, it will be posted here.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
15th
November,
2007
·
Redevelopment:
Good
progress
is
being
made
on
our
redevelopment.
Please
keep
an
eye
on
the
display
board
in
the
clubhouse,
bulletins
are
being
updated
as
new
items
are
able
to
be
reported.
·
Course
Condition:
We
were
fortunate
enough
to
have
received
a
good
fall
of
rain
in
past
few
weeks.
Even
though
it
closed
the
road
due
to
flooding
for
a
few
days
and
also
took
most
of
our
driving
range
into
the
duck
pond
style
again,
our
course
soaked
it
up
quite
happily.
Next
major
task
is
the
coring
of
greens.
This
work
is
scheduled
to
occur
on
Friday
23rd
November.
Please
bear
with
us
as
this
important
work
is
done
for
the
ongoing
management
of
our
greens.
·
Staff:
We
are
now
short
by
one
member
of
our
course
staff.
Jason
Langshaw
recently
decided
that
there
were
some
greener
pastures
elsewhere
and
he
tendered
his
resignation.
We
will
seek
to
engage
another
apprentice
in
his
place,
but
this
will
not
be
done
until
end
of
school
year.
Hopefully
we
find
someone
local
who
can
join
our
team,
for
next
year
looks
like
being
a
very
big
one
with
the
redevelopment
having
impact
on
staff,
by
way
of
Darren
needing
to
be
fairly
involved
in
new
hole
construction
and
irrigation
layout
etc.
·
Golf
Etiquette:
This
part
of
the
newsletter
is
going
to
capture
and
focus
on
a
section
of
our
great
game,
that
being
Golf
Etiquette
.
It
is
timely
for
us
to
perhaps
revisit
this
part
of
our
game,
which
in
the
opinion
of
some,
seems
to
have
fallen
(or
is
falling)
into
disuse.
Listed
here
are
the
sort
of
things
and
you
can
make
what
you
will
of
them.
These
are
not
specific
cases,
so
much
as
they
are
a
broad
representation
of
matters
discussed
at
committee
level
over
the
past
months.
·
Dress
Code:
While
our
club
no
longer
has
a
formal
dress
code
requiring
specific
attire
to
be
worn
in
the
clubhouse
and/or
on
the
course,
members
are
reminded
that
our
club
does
require
that
at
all
times,
members
and
visitors
will
be
“Neat
and
Tidy!”
This
means
that
we
don't
expect
singlets
and
thongs,
gaudy
emblazoned
t-shirts
and
the
like.
Put
simply,
neat
and
tidy
means
just
that.
·
Behaviour
on
the
course:
Now,
we
all
experience
frustrations
during
some
of
our
rounds
of
golf,
and,
most
of
us
have
been
taken
to
the
point
of
almost
total
despair
by
our
own
sometimes
lack
of
golfing
ability....
but,
in
reality,
there
is
no
need
for
us
to
throw
clubs
violently
about
the
place.
Perhaps
imagine
how
bad
you
would
feel
if,
on
an
occasion
you
sought
to
throw
a
club,
it
inadvertently
hit
and
injured
someone?
I'm
not
referring
to
simply
tossing
your
sand
iron
out
of
a
bunker
so
you
can
use
the
rake,
but
more
to
throwing
the
clubs
at
your
bag,
or
back
up
the
fairway
or
whatever.
In
case
you
may
think
this
trivial....consider
the
times
we
have
experienced
damage
to
greens
where
someone
has
slammed
their
misbehaving
putter
into
the
surface
of
the
green....think
it's
never
happened....oh
yes
it
has!
Another
part
of
course
behaviour
is
the
use
that
some
of
our
hire
carts
are
put
to.
Certainly
most
users
treat
the
carts
with
respect,
but
sadly
there
are
those
who
don't!
Any
misuse
of
the
carts
noted
by
members
needs
to
be
reported
to
the
staff
in
the
shop
when
you
finish
your
round.
·
Complaining
to
course
staff
as
they
do
their
work:
members
need
to
be
reminded
that
our
course
staff
are
not
under
the
control
of
all
members
and
as
such,
should
you
find
fault
in
something
relating
to
staff
on
the
course,
you
need
to
pursue
the
matter
in
the
proper
manner.
That
is,
contact
the
committee
representative
in
charge
of
that
person,
or
indeed
approach
any
committee
person
with
the
complaint.
The
rules
of
golf
clearly
outline
that
course
staff
have
right-of-way
at
all
times,
hence
it
is
totally
unreasonable
for
you
to
approach
such
staff
member
and
complain
to
them.
They
have
been
instructed
to
do
what
they
are
doing
and
you
need
to
work
around
them.
This
is
particularly
the
case
at
present
while
we
are
very
short
staffed.
This
means
that
many
tasks
need
to
be
done
at
times
less
than
ideal,
but
we
sometimes
have
no
choice.
When
you
consider
there
is
competition
golf
played
on
Tuesday,
Wednesday,
Thursday
and
Saturday,
it
takes
up
a
fair
bit
of
the
week
and
the
tasks
all
still
need
doing!!
Please
be
tolerant
of
this
need.
·
Working
Bee:
Please
see
notes/flyers
in
the
clubhouse
re
our
working
bee
on
Sunday
25th
November.
Please
come
along
and
help
lighten
the
workload.
There'll
be
a
BBQ
luch
for
those
attending.
·
Future
Newsletters:
Any
sub-committee
or
other
group
within
the
club,
who
wishes
to
utilise
these
newsletters
for
spreading
of
news,
please
contact
Alan
Wyatt,
there
is
always
room!
Compiled
by
Alan
Wyatt
for
General
Committee