The financial viability of a not-for-profit Magpies Belconnen golf course is under threat after being hit by massive increases in the cost of the treated waste water it uses for irrigation.
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The golf course has seen its treated effluent charges levied by the ACT government-owned Icon Water rise by over 2600 per cent in the past 14 years to a current rate which makes the club pay more for effluent than Sydney consumers pay for their drinking water.
The general manager, Paul Netting, has written to the 540 golf club members outlining the dire financial problems which the water charge poses to the viability of the club and has said that should the costs continue to rise as planned by Icon Water, the club will be forced to close by mid next year.
Mr Netting told members that irrigation needed to counter the intense heat and dryness of the 2019-20 summer followed by the COVID-enforced closure of the club's bar and restaurant for three months this year has created a "not so perfect storm" which could fold the club.
All playing charges and revenue raised by the club are channelled back into its everyday operations and increased playing fees have only partially covered the increased costs.
Under threat are 44 jobs in course upkeep, club administration and staff at the Brindabella bar and restaurant. The irony is that if the club closed its doors, the ACT government would lose about $300,000 in revenue for gaming, liquor and payroll taxes which exceeds the cost of the water.
"The course was built on the premise that it would have access to an affordable long term water supply," Mr Netting said.
"Back in 2006, we were paying a reasonable 9 cents per kilolitre.
"Now we're paying $2.40 a kilolitre after another 30 cents per kilolitre charge was added on July 1 this year.
"The latest advice we have from Icon Water is that this charge is expected to rise to $3.70 a kilolitre next year.
"We simply can't continue to operate under those cost pressures and as you'd expect, our board and our members are extremely concerned about what this means for our immediate future.
"We use treated effluent to irrigate, rather than river and lake water which other clubs use. Their charges are a fraction of ours.
"Last year's summer was a very dry and intense one as we all know and we watered carefully and enough to keep the tees, fairways and greens alive."
He said that a government water review promised in 2016 hadn't eventuated and appeals to Icon Water for some cost relief were still under consideration
"We've approached all the parties on this issue because we have a lot of senior members to whom playing this local course, with our strong connection to the local Belconnen community, is important to their health and wellbeing," Mr Netting said.
The Belco Party's Bill Stefaniak has thrown his support behind his local club's plight and has declared that "enough is enough".
"The golf course at the Magpies Club has been operating for over 40 years," Mr Stefaniak said.
"Inner city elites either don't play golf or maybe they can afford to go to trendier inner-city clubs. The Belco golfers at the Magpies are just your average Aussies.
"It's interesting to note that four kilometres away along the Murrumbidgee across the border the same treated water, enhanced by regular clear flows from the Murrumbidgee catchment, is sold to NSW farmers for less than one cent a kilolitre by Water NSW."
He said that if the Belco party got a seat in the new Assembly, it would insist the cost of water for sporting clubs would drop to an equivalent rate paid by NSW golf courses.
