How come golf course land tio axed, but that huge Ridout land still happily remains available huh?
Golf course land ‘will be reduced over time’
www.todayonline.com
BY
PHILIP GOH
Published November 16, 2013
Updated November 18, 2013
SINGAPORE — Members of golf clubs whose leases are running out will finally find out the fates of their clubs by early next year.
This was confirmed by Minister for Law and Foreign Affairs, Mr K Shanmugam, in a post on his Facebook page yesterday.
Mr Shanmugam’s post was addressing an editorial published in The Business Times on Tuesday on the need to strike a balance between the needs for golf as a sport and lifestyle choice and alternative uses for the land which the courses sit on.
While acknowledging that there is a place for golf courses in Singapore and noting that having golf facilities “makes us a better location for business investment as well”, Mr Shanmugam pointed out that land allocated to golf courses will be reduced over time because of Singapore’s land use needs.
“In the past, many golf courses were built over land which could not be developed for high intensity use. We are now able to make better use of some of these land,” he wrote.
As such, the Government’s approach is to let the leases expire if the land is needed for another purpose.
“In the coming years, some golf course land will be redeveloped, to put to higher intensity uses, to meet Singapore’s land use needs,” said the minister.
The Government had indicated last January that golf courses may have to make way for other land use such as housing, signalling a policy shift for the 18 clubs who occupy an estimated 1,500 hectares or 2 per cent of Singapore’s total land area.
Consultations have been ongoing between the Ministry of Law and the Singapore Land Authority with 13 clubs here who are on 30-year tenures.
The first leases to expire will be those for the Keppel Club and Changi Golf Club in 2021, while other with less than 10 years left on their leases include the Singapore Island Country Club, the Seletar Country Club and the Tanah Merah Country Club.
According to Mr Shanmugam, golf clubs will be told in advance whether their leases can be extended. “We plan to make an announcement early next year on our approach to lease extension for golf courses and to let clubs whose leases will expire within the next 10 years know whether their leases can be extended,” he said.
Lease doubts have not only hurt golf club membership prices with clubs reporting falls of between 2 and 15 per cent, but have also affected some clubs’ plans to redevelop their facilities.
Three months ago, Raffles Country Club members voted down a S$26-million revamp on one of the club’s two courses amid uncertainties over extension to their land tenure.
According to Peter Goh, General Manager of the Orchid Country Club, the Yishun facility that features three nine-hole courses has some 10 years left on its tenure.
“There are a lot of uncertainties about the extension of the tenure and for now we have no new information,” said Goh. “What is certain is we have our 10 years here and we’re not sure what will happen beyond that.”
However, Goh said that the club’s membership price has not seen much fluctuation and remains “in the S$39,000 to S$40,000 range”. He added that the 1,800-member club can accommodate more golfers to maximise its utilisation.