The history of the Green Wedge is complex.
Originally implemented as a buffer to protect uses which were incompatible with intense uses such as quarries, landfills and processing plants, the Green Wedge also incorporates large areas of environmentally and ecologically important land.
Such land should have common sense protection mechanisms in place to safeguard it against unnecessary development.
The open space that runs through sections of the City of Greater Dandenong (CGD), including Bangholme and Keysborough, is a mix – some areas form parts of the lungs of the city, and others are degraded farm areas which act as a buffer to the Eastern Treatment Plant.
Green spaces should be able to be enjoyed by the community. Within reason, it should be able to be used for passive recreational and leisurely pursuits.
The proposed sites for the new Keysborough Golf Club (KGC) and South East Sports Hub (SESH), which are within this “Green Wedge” zone, are anything but beautiful green spaces right now.
And they are not available to be used by the general public in any way, shape or form.
The sites are brown with minimal vegetation.
They are unusable for agricultural purposes.
They are dilapidated.
They are private property.
And they can be substantially improved.
The proposed KGC relocation project would create 84 hectares of new open space for the community to enjoy.
The spaces will be green.
They will be accessible to all in the community.
They will enhance local liveability
They will promote physical activity and wellbeing.
Within this, the SESH will become a 69-hectare sports and recreational hub once fully developed, with fields and courts for the community to enjoy. Stage 1 of the SESH alone will consist of up to five football pitches, three cricket fields, an Aussie Rules field and eight netball courts.
New features of the developed site would also include a community wetland reserve, walking tracks and picnic and BBQ areas.
And while approximately 29 trees will need to be removed in construction of the SESH, approximately 51 trees will be retained and integrated into the new site in addition to the hundreds more new trees to be planted.
The new KGC would convert 75 hectares of brown space into a new state-of-the-art golf course.
With all the modern drainage and water capture capabilities plus pristine landscaping, the site will be enhanced for local flora and fauna species as compared to its current neglected state.
To the north, the existing KGC site at 55 Hutton Road is currently not accessible for the general public as it is a privately owned, members-only course.
This site is proposed to be unlocked for as many as 5000 new residents in a community estate that will also include 15 hectares of public green space, green space that will link the existing Maurie Jarvis Woodland to the north with the Keysborough Linear Reserve to the south.
The Master Plan’s Tree Retention Strategy allows for existing trees on the current golf course site to be retained and integrated into the new community.
Preventing all this from occurring at the moment is a historical anomaly in the positioning of the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB), which was originally intended to have the KGC situated within it.
If the UGB was positioned where originally intended, there would not be a debate to be had. Housing would already be there, completing a residential precinct that already contains thousands of homes to the north, east and south-west.
For the two sites in Bangholme, a golf course and sports facility would be deemed permissible for construction under current zoning laws.
This project isn’t an existential threat to the Green Wedge.
This is beautifying an area of brown wedge and turning it into green space for the betterment of the community and local fauna and flora.
The Green Wedge needs to be protected. But it also needs to be enhanced with common sense decisions and policies by Government and Council in order for it to thrive.
