Mrs LAMBLEY - 2015-11-18
On Sunday I attended the Alice Springs Golf Club AGM, and an excellent presentation on golf course maintenance and rehabilitation. The Alice Springs golf course is iconic and world-renowned. To keep the Alice Springs golf course at a high standard, the club needs an alternative water supply and a major upgrade to the irrigation system.
The CLP was made aware of the needs of the Alice Springs Golf Club five years ago. I remember the briefing very clearly. What is your government’s commitment to providing significant funds to the Alice Springs Golf Club so it can continue to provide a world-class golf course in Central Australia?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I will start to answer this question, but I am sure the Chief Minister has some more information to add to it. I first became aware of the water problems with the Alice Springs Golf Club when the people there spoke to me about the move of the bowls club. I note the Northern Territory government provided the Alice Springs Golf Club with a capital grant of $1.5m for this project in 2014-15. Part of that project in setting up these bowls greens is to relocate some of the water infrastructure associated with that project. If the Chief Minister would like to add to that, I will pass it over to him.
Mr GILES (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for Sport for that, and I thank the member for Araluen for her question. One of the things we are seriously looking at - and Power and Water has been tasked with the responsibility of costing - is whether or not we can use some of the dirty water from the sewer system in Alice Springs to pipe water into the golf course.
The golf course is generally seen as being for residents of Alice Springs, although some tourists use the golf course. It is an opportunity for greater tourism expansion and development. It is widely said that the golf course in Alice Springs was the sixth best remote course in Australia.
It has been overtaken for a long time due to salinity in the water bore, which pumps water onto the course, so we are looking at an opportunity of using some of the water that comes out of the sewage treatment plant which is currently pumped out into the AZRI zone. Our initial costs are estimated at $5m to put a water pipe from the sewer system to the golf course. We are getting some final costing done on that, then we will take some cost-benefit analysis about whether that is the best investment of government money or if there other approaches we should be taking, keeping in mind we are spending a lot of money investing in tourism infrastructure to build new products and renew products. If we can measure the cost-benefit analysis of a sewer pipeline to the golf course, as well as its return on investment to the community and to tourism, we will make a decision on that.
Clearly, water supply for the golf course in Alice Springs is a challenge, especially regarding salinity and the damage it causes to the grass. As a community asset, we need to invest in it for community and economic benefit.
The CLP was made aware of the needs of the Alice Springs Golf Club five years ago. I remember the briefing very clearly. What is your government’s commitment to providing significant funds to the Alice Springs Golf Club so it can continue to provide a world-class golf course in Central Australia?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I will start to answer this question, but I am sure the Chief Minister has some more information to add to it. I first became aware of the water problems with the Alice Springs Golf Club when the people there spoke to me about the move of the bowls club. I note the Northern Territory government provided the Alice Springs Golf Club with a capital grant of $1.5m for this project in 2014-15. Part of that project in setting up these bowls greens is to relocate some of the water infrastructure associated with that project. If the Chief Minister would like to add to that, I will pass it over to him.
Mr GILES (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for Sport for that, and I thank the member for Araluen for her question. One of the things we are seriously looking at - and Power and Water has been tasked with the responsibility of costing - is whether or not we can use some of the dirty water from the sewer system in Alice Springs to pipe water into the golf course.
The golf course is generally seen as being for residents of Alice Springs, although some tourists use the golf course. It is an opportunity for greater tourism expansion and development. It is widely said that the golf course in Alice Springs was the sixth best remote course in Australia.
It has been overtaken for a long time due to salinity in the water bore, which pumps water onto the course, so we are looking at an opportunity of using some of the water that comes out of the sewage treatment plant which is currently pumped out into the AZRI zone. Our initial costs are estimated at $5m to put a water pipe from the sewer system to the golf course. We are getting some final costing done on that, then we will take some cost-benefit analysis about whether that is the best investment of government money or if there other approaches we should be taking, keeping in mind we are spending a lot of money investing in tourism infrastructure to build new products and renew products. If we can measure the cost-benefit analysis of a sewer pipeline to the golf course, as well as its return on investment to the community and to tourism, we will make a decision on that.
Clearly, water supply for the golf course in Alice Springs is a challenge, especially regarding salinity and the damage it causes to the grass. As a community asset, we need to invest in it for community and economic benefit.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016