La Trobe Uni offers to sell Strathallan golf site to council, reportedly for $50 million.

By: Darius Oliver

The fight to save the 9-hole Strathallan golf club in Bundoora has taken an interesting twist, with reports surfacing that the club’s landlord, La Trobe University, has offered to shelve its development plans and sell the site back to the Darebin Council.

Though no property value has been confirmed, there are suggestions in the Preston Leader Newspaper that the University will expect around $50 million from the sale.

The newspaper reported that:

LA TROBE University has offered to sell Strathallan Golf Course to Darebin Council, after years of speculation over the future of the Bundoora site.

But the land’s price tag — previously reported at $50 million — is up in the air.

The move comes just weeks after the university announced public consultations for the use of the 18ha site, which it has owned since 1996.

Vice Chancellor Professor John Dewar offered to begin negotiations with the council for a “private treaty sale” in a letter obtained by the Leader.

This type of sale would avoid the costly, drawn out process of a compulsory acquisition, which is an option for the council.

“Such an agreement would enable council to retain open space for the community and at the same time support the university’s desire to release the landholdings so we can focus on our core educational activities,” Prof Dewar wrote.

Prof Dewar did not name a price in the letter.

It is understood the Victorian Valuer-General will begin an assessment and recommend a price within the next four weeks.

Darebin Mayor Kim Le Cerf said the council would come to the table.

“We have expressed the desire for this land to remain open space and we’re willing to look at any option that will make it happen,” she said.

The council has been seeking options for preserving the site, leased to Strathallan Golf Club since 1996.

La Trobe University told the club in 2015 it must vacate the land by the end of 2018, setting off a protest campaign that has gained supporters including Bundoora state Labor MP Colin Brooks.

The council has lobbied the State Government to buy the site, while exploring options to buy the land itself through compulsory acquisition.

Mr Brooks said the State Government had made a “substantial” contribution, having recently secured a long-term lease for the golf course clubhouse and carpark, which are on Crown land.
“Darebin Council should consider using their open space reserves fund and or the Darebin Nature Trust, recently established by council, to purchase the land,” he said.

A council report estimated the land’s value to be $50 million, but supporters of the course dispute the figure suggesting it is much lower.

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