Belair National Park - Former Golf Course Site

The for­mer Belair Golf Course and Coun­try Club Func­tion Cen­tre were sit­u­at­ed in the Belair Nation­al Park near the main park entrance on Upper Sturt Road, Belair. Estab­lished in 1935, the site occu­pies approx­i­mate­ly 50 hectares in the south-west cor­ner of the park.

Man­age­ment of the site trans­ferred to the pri­vate sec­tor in 1982 and was man­aged under lease until 2017. The Belair Car­a­van Park has also been oper­at­ing adja­cent to this site for many years. 

When the lease end­ed in 2017, a mas­ter plan­ning process was under­tak­en to seek expres­sions of inter­est for the site and hear com­mu­ni­ty views about the area. 

This process result­ed in a man­age­ment plan amend­ment cre­at­ing a new ​‘Con­ser­va­tion 3 Zone’ for the site which describes appro­pri­ate land uses for the for­mer golf course site.

As part of the process, sev­er­al expres­sions of inter­est were received from inter­est­ed par­ties. DEW is now work­ing on assist­ing the suc­cess­ful appli­cants to imple­ment their pro­pos­als which include a disc golf course, improve­ments to the car­a­van park and a bike hire business. 

DEW con­tin­ues plan­ning works to inte­grate the for­mer golf course into the wider reserve to ensure all new pro­pos­als com­ply with the man­age­ment plan and enhance the vis­i­tor experience.

Site work com­plet­ed to date:

  • Removal of the Coun­try Club Func­tion Centre
  • Repairs to the entry road lights
  • Repairs to the entry road
  • Upgrades to for­malise the ​‘Birdie Loop’ Trail to a grade 2 trail
  • New sig­nage installed at vis­i­tor entry points
  • Con­crete pads and Disc Golf Bas­kets installed.

Third par­ty pro­pos­als for the site:

Two pro­pos­als were suc­cess­ful fol­low­ing the EOI process.

  1. SA Disc Golf Asso­ci­a­tion (SADGA):

SADGA have installed an 18-hole disc golf course on the for­mer golf course fair­ways. Vis­i­tors will be able to play casu­al­ly on this course, with some organ­ised events to take place on approved dates. The course is being planned to ensure that disc golf activ­i­ties will not inter­fere with oth­er types of recre­ation at the site. 

  1. Escape­goat Adventures:

Well-known moun­tain bike tour oper­a­tor, Escape­goat, has tak­en up res­i­dence in the for­mer Pro shop, offer­ing bike hire, great cof­fee and snacks for visitors. 

Oth­er third par­ty changes happening:

  1. Belair Nation­al Park Hol­i­day Park have under­tak­en upgrades to their site includ­ing refur­bish­ment of cab­ins, beau­ti­ful wall art and upgrad­ed entry infra­struc­ture. They also recent­ly added to their leased area, incor­po­rat­ing part of one of the for­mer fair­ways the south of their orig­i­nal boundary.
  2. A com­mu­ni­ty work­ing group are in dis­cus­sions with Ranger staff to start up a Parkrun event on the site of the for­mer golf course.

Future improve­ments and maintenance:

  • Removal of old assets will con­tin­ue now that the mas­ter plan­ning process is com­plete. Any exist­ing struc­tures from the for­mer golf course deemed unsafe will be removed from the area.
  • The carpark and entry road will be upgrad­ed to improve the visu­al pre­sen­ta­tion, vis­i­tor safe­ty and envi­ron­men­tal val­ue of the area, as well as reduc­ing van­dal­ism and anti-social behaviour. 
  • The Friends of Belair may con­tin­ue reveg­e­ta­tion plant­i­ngs on the site, under the guid­ance of park rangers. Plant­i­ngs will be man­aged to ensure they enhance exist­ing habi­tat areas and not impact slash­ing oper­a­tions or fire risk. 
  • Improve the exist­ing Birdie Loop trail – with a pri­or­i­ty on man­ag­ing drainage and wet areas.
  • Slash­ing will con­tin­ue between Sep­tem­ber and Decem­ber (weath­er con­di­tions may influ­ence tim­ing and frequency).