Altona residents teed off over Kooringal Golf Club plans

26-10-16 Residents say golf cart shed will destroy their view. Pic of Joy family: Robyn, Gary and daughter Adele. Photo by Damjan Janevski.

Residents in a quiet pocket of Altona next to Kooringal golf course are concerned at the club’s plans for a golf-cart shed which they say will block their picturesque views.

Dun Delk Avenue resident Gary Joy said his Cape Cod house was purpose-built in about 1964, with its front door positioned just a few metres from the edge of the course.

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Gary Joy’s home looking on to Kooringal golf course. Photo: Supplied

He is devastated by the club’s plan to build a shed, about 28 metres long and 10 metres wide, outside his front door.

“It would block out our view of the golf course from our bedroom and front door, but it would also become the dominant feature from every other main room in our home,” he said.

“This industrial-looking shed would be totally out of character with this beautiful residential street and would certainly decrease the value of surrounding properties.

“Personally, our family would lose our privacy and security with the introduction of activity from dawn to dusk seven days a week within just a few metres of our front door and windows as golfers collect and put away their buggies.”

Mr Joy says he hopes the club will build its shed on a different part of the course with less impact for residents.

Kooringal general manager Anthony White said the club sat on 39 hectares of land, which for an 18-hole course was small.

“So, space is at a premium,” he said.

“The planned cart shed was architecturally drawn and the plans submitted in line with the local planning policy.

“Tree and shrub plantings, with an intention to keep the area ‘green’, have been incorporated in the application.”

Mr White said the shed would benefit a large number of older members who were no longer able to walk to play golf. “The club has been on the site for 70 years and as part of the larger community of Altona, we will work with them, our neighbours, to find the best solution for all parties,” Mr White said.