Date: May 29, 2013
Author: Jim Gainsford - St George & Sutherland Leader

Complex in full swing


NSW Premier Barry O Farrell has officially opened the $100 million The Ridge Sports Complex at Barden Ridge, which includes the 18-hole The Ridge Golf Course. Sutherland Shire mayor Kent Johns welcomed the Premier to the shire to jointly open the sports complex, which he said was the result of a visionary collaboration between the council, the community and the state government. Among the first to tee off after the official opening were cricket legends and shire residents Steve Waugh and Glenn McGrath. Since the second nine holes opened in February, the course has attracted an average 5000 players a month, meaning it is on track to have hosted close to 100,000 players by the end of the year. The high quality design of The Ridge public golf course by James Wilcher is receiving rave reviews, so I expect more and more players to visit Sutherland Shire to sample what The Ridge has to offer in the months and years ahead, Councillor Johns said. The spectacular range of facilities have all been made possible by an innovative agreement between Waste Services NSW, now owned by SITA, and the council. This agreement saw a former waste disposal site rehabilitated, transformed into recreation area and ultimately returned to the community. The site has been treated, filled, contoured and compacted to make the championship standard course, which is positioned on top of a ridge with sweeping distant views to the Sydney CBD. The council struck an agreement in 1996 with Waste Services NSW on how the site would be rehabilitated and developed. It was agreed that WSN would make a payment for the 17.3 million tonnes of waste going to landfill, with the fees for tipping allowing the sports complex to be developed without using ratepayers money. Mr O Farrell said the sporting complex was a model of partnership between the community, the council and private sector. This is a great use of the site without getting ratepayers funds involved, he said. Mr O Farrell personally paid tribute to Cr Steve Simpson who guided the development of the facility over the past 12 years. You should be proud of what you have delivered, Mr O Farrell said.

THE RIDGE

The Ridge Sports Complex is worth more than $100 million. It includes an athletics track, multi-court synthetic netball fields, playing fields for soccer, cricket, rugby union and oztag, and a 52-bay multi-deck golf driving range. The championship level 18-hole course opened in two stages and is the first new metropolitan golf course built in more than five years. The course is self-watering from a 40-megalitre dam. There is a 120-hectare conservation area. See your ad here Planning has begun for the new off-road bike park.

What do you think of the complex?