The North Adelaide Public Golf Course project was examined in State Parliament on Thursday 18 June as part of the annual Budget Estimates Committee Hearings, where MPs can interrogate any Minister on current and future expenditure listed in the State Budget.

The Premier, as Minister responsible for the project, responded to questions from the Leader of the Opposition.

There were the key points from the session:

1. The $45 million project cost is capital investing expenditure for the construction of the redesigned course.

2. The $45m does not include costs for a new clubroom. Work on design and costing for the clubroom is continuing, and when approved, will be made public.

3. Timelines: the earthworks component started in time for completion and use as a tournament venue by March 2028, based on the need for two growing seasons to ensure required quality of the course. The clubroom (design and location) and driving range are subject to the same timeline, with work completion expected by the end of 2027.

4. Part of the work on the clubroom and driving range revolves around the requirement that those facilities be able to generate year-round revenue streams to ensure that the entire facility is not a cost burden to the taxpayer in the same way that it was a cost burden for Adelaide City Council (noting that Council's budget papers showed it continually made a loss). 

5. The decision to build a new clubroom was based on cost-consultants' assessments that renovation of the old (and dilapidated) clubroom was cost-prohibitive compared to a new build.

6. Trees. The Premier gave an update on the removal of trees to date and the final impact of the project as follows:

• The course precinct has more than 9,000 trees, of which 585 were identified for removal on the basis of being either necessary for the new design, or were an invasive or inappropriate species.

Of the 585, 111 were exempt from regulation as being invasive or inappropriate.

215 were smaller than the height required to be classified as a regulated tree; and 259 were either regulated or significant.

• The assumption that all 585 were native, significant and regulated is wrong.

• Around 400 of the 585 have been removed, representing the trees required to be moved for the new course area. The remainder are dependent on the final location of the clubroom and driving range.

• With a tree replacement program as part of the project, it is estimated that by the time the project is finished, there will be more than 10,000 trees on the site. All of these 10,000 will be native and/or appropriate to the course and provide an improved biodiversity for the area, including the wildlife. 

A full transcript of the session will be released early next week through Hansard.