New Sydney road tunnel to result in loss of Balgowlah Golf Club

Newly announced plans by the NSW Government to build its planned new Beaches Link Tunnel appear to spell the end of the Balgowlah Golf Club.

The Club’s nine-hole golf course, located on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, will be cut through by access roads for the tunnel linking the northern suburbs of the city. What remains of the divided site, where golf has been played for almost a century, will be redeveloped as housing and sports fields.

The detailed plans for the new tunnel link, released today show a tunnel that will be up to 108 metres in depth and include new connections in the suburbs of Artarmon, Cammeray and Seaforth as well as in Balgowlah.

Speaking today, NSW Premier, Gladys Berejiklian said the mega-project “will transform the way people move to and from the Northern Beaches, bypassing 19 sets of traffic lights through The Spit, Mosman and Neutral Bay and help save up to 56 minutes between Dee Why and Sydney airport.”

NSW Minister for Transport and Roads Andrew Constance added “we’re also planning more than five kilometres of new cycle and pedestrian pathways”, pledging to “work closely with locals in Balgowlah, where we’ll be returning an area equivalent to around 90% of the current open space to the community.”

Speaking to Inside Golf in 2018 when the NSW Government announced its initial plans, Balgowlah Golf Club President Bill Colwell told Inside Golf “the state government proposes to use Balgowlah golf course as a construction site during construction of the tunnel and build a link road across the course.

“These measures will destroy not only Balgowlah Golf Club, its valuable social structure and golf course but the ecological community along Burnt Bridge Creek and over 550 trees with their environmental and habitat value.”

The loss of Balgowlah Golf Club appears to be another example of metropolitan golf spaces being sacrificed for development and a comes at a time when councils are considering repurposing courses for more publicly accessible open space following increased no-golfing use during COVID-19 shutdowns.

Images: Balgowlah Golf Club (top) and the concept for the Beaches Link Tunnel at Balgowlah showing open space and sport facilities (below).