Plans revealed for surf wave park at golf resort in outer Western Sydney

Ambitious plans for a surf wave park at a golf club on the banks of the Hawkesbury River in outer Western Sydney, utilising wave-generating technology from USA-based company Surf Loch Wave Systems, have been revealed.

The Wisemans Ferry Retreat and Golf Club on the Hawkesbury River submitted an application to the Hills Shire Council on 23rd January to construct a 13,735 metre² wave pool complete with a beach and lounge area on their existing site.

In another example of golf courses looking to diversify in the face of declining golf participation, the wave park development will aim to drive visits to The Retreat at Wisemans, which, along with its nine-hole golf course has a restaurant and 54 hotel rooms.

Commenting on the application, planners told The Hills Shire Times “this application is proposed to enhance the facilities currently on offer at The Retreat at Wisemans which will serve as a drawcard for patrons of the motel facilities.

“The Retreat will become a Golf and Wave Hotel that will make a valuable contribution to the local economy, without altering or impacting upon the existing ambience, visitation potential, or aesthetic qualities of the site or Wisemans Ferry Village.”

With the Wisemans Ferry Retreat and Golf Club under new ownership, the suggestion is that the new owners plan to revitalise it.

The planner suggested “the current occupancy within the Wisemans Retreat Hotel is very low, due to the current condition of the motel and facilities.”

Plans for the attraction follow the recent opening of Urbnsurf Melbourne, Australia’s first publically accessible wave park, and with construction of a seconded Urbnsurf facility at Sydney Olympic Park scheduled to begin this year.

Media reports suggest that the attraction will use more than 30,000 metre³ of water filtered from the Hawkesbury with a report in the Daily Mail Australia noting that “Surf Loch Wave Systems are dedicated to maintaining water quality to meet and exceed the NSW Public Health Act 2010”.

Surf Loch Wave Systems have yet to open a full-size wave park featuring their wave-generating technology utilising water from a river.

Commenting on the proposal, Australasian Leisure Management Publisher, Nigel Benton stated “ambitious attractions projects are so often gleefully reported by mainstream media and by local newspapers but more often than not lack of finance, planning and environmental constraints and other issues result in them not getting built.

“Surf wave attractions are particularly problematic given that technology for generating waves is young and the energy costs of generating a wave are high while waterparks and other water-based attractions in southern cities generally have to rely on operating in a five-month season.

“However, in recent months, the opening of the URBNSurf attraction in Melbourne has proved me wrong so I hope this proposal can prove viable.

“If built it would be a significant addition for the area.”

Images: Artist's impressions of the new wave park proposal at The Wisemans Ferry Retreat and Golf Club on the Hawkesbury River (top and middle) and the plan shows that the surf wave pool will not impact the current golf course (below).