Planning Committee to review project

On 2nd July 2025 the Minister for Planning advised the Rossdale Golf Club that its redevelopment proposal would be referred to the Priority Projects Advisory Standing Committee - a Victorian government body that provides advice to the Minister for Planning on projects.

This Committee will now assess whether work to date has so far followed the first five steps outlined in the Planning Guidelines for the Conversion of Golf Course Land to Other Purposes.

Full details on the review can be found on the Victoria Government's Priority Projects website. An overview of the Club's activities to date on the first five steps under the guidelines can be found here.

The Club looks forward to participating in the review to the full extent possible. This will see us putting forward what we have done to follow the guidelines so the Committee can make an independent assessment to allow the Minister to make further considerations of the project and any future redevelopment of the course.

It is important to note that the Club has yet to finalise a planning scheme amendment and planning permit application to redevelop the course. It is anticipated that there will be opportunities for community feedback during that process in due course.

What's happening?

The Rossdale Golf Club (The Club) in Aspendale (City of Kingston), 25 kilometres south-east from the Melbourne CBD has been facing significant financial pressures and faces imminent closure. The Club's financial bottom line is not able to fund the ongoing needs and capital requirements needed for long term viability at the current site. The Club has had to implement various short-term solutions to address immediate funding needs, including the sale of some land (2,400 square metres) in 2015. Additional options have also been explored, such as merging with other clubs, however these were not viable.

The current finances are insufficient to meet the Club’s needs, which when combined with increasing business costs, leads to the clear conclusion that the Club ‘as is’ has no long-term viability at the current Aspendale site. Looking forward, the cost of improving the golf course to incorporate contemporary design standards and facilities is beyond the Club’s reach.

The Club has no choice other than seeking to exit, selling its land and use the money to seek a new golf facility opportunity for its members. On 23 December 2018, by Special Resolution of the Rossdale Golf Club members, over 90% of meeting attendees resolved to sell the Club's site and explore relocation to a nearby location.

The Club has engaged an expert project team to investigate how the current Rossdale Golf Course site in Aspendale may be redeveloped in the future. This redevelopment will fund the Club's relocation and enable it to repay its debts.

The Club acknowledges there will be significant change which may be of concern to local residents and community members. As part of this plan, we are committed to delivering community benefits for the Aspendale community.

New community assets may include:

  • Providing publicly accessible open spaces.
  • Reducing risks of off-site flood impacts by building on-site water retention basins.
  • Providing a range of housing opportunities for diverse family types
  • Providing on-site community facilities or education facilities
  • Providing monetary contributions towards the upgrading of existing off-site neighbourhood sporting facilities.

Planning guidelines

The Club is following the Planning Guidelines for the Conversion of Golf Course Land to Other Purposes (June 2020).

To date the project team have completed Steps 1 to 3 and all of Step 4 of the guidelines (apart from addressing follow up questions from stakeholder agencies).

Step 5 (Engage the Community) has taken place over two phases in April and May 2023 and in July and August 2024. All of this activity has resulted in the development of a land use concept for the site (an 'Ideas Plan' for the project - or Step 6 under the guidelines).

Also of relevance to Your Future Rossdale are Kingston Council’s recently approved residential zones / planning rules which cover everything from affordable homes to sustainable housing development and much more.