00:00These corridors of eucalyptus and pine are the perfect place for budding golfers to work
00:09on their swing at the Rossdale Golf Course in Aspendale.
00:14It's a course that has a community feel about it and they call it the friendly course for
00:18a reason.
00:19Greg McMahon has been a member on and off for many years.
00:22And unfortunately my wife told me that having kids and golf do not go together.
00:27On that point I rejoined as soon as I retired.
00:31But facing rising debt, which hit $1.2 million last year, the club's members voted to sell
00:37the course several years ago.
00:39No one wants to leave.
00:41We just need to leave because it's not sustainable and can't pay the debt back.
00:45An idea to build medium density housing has left some members frustrated.
00:50Absolutely there's nimby behaviour in the sense of we are locals.
00:55The council says it doesn't need the site to meet its housing targets and was surprised
01:00to learn about the proposal going to a government planning committee earlier this month.
01:05Council's really disappointed the fact that the state government have intervened and fast-tracked
01:09Rossdale.
01:10We were assured that we would be the decision maker on this particular site.
01:14The Victorian government rejects this, saying the proposal has not been fast-tracked and
01:19will be considered on its merits.
01:22The course lies near internationally recognised wetlands that provide a native habitat for
01:27Australian wildlife.
01:30Developing on flood-prone land, developing in areas that would not cope without significant
01:35infrastructure investment is simply not the right area for that development.
01:39The club says any profits from the sale will be used to relocate to another site.
01:43It's just sad for everybody and it's a bad situation that we tried to say but we couldn't.
01:49The government will open to the public to have their say, but some locals believe it's
01:53about more than just golf.
01:56This is about the wildlife corridor.
01:57You can't replace that if you suddenly make everything concrete.
02:01A fair way to go before any concrete decisions are made.
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