‘Very aware of these issues’: Golf Australia reveals plan to combat re-zoning of public courses
Golf Australia is preparing to defend the country’s public courses against re-zoning attempts as part of its five-year strategy released on Friday, even as participation growth skews towards non-traditional venues like simulators and driving ranges.The sport reported annual growth in adult participation of 10% over the past five years, sustaining a boom that began during the Covid pandemic.The greens and fairways at Moore Park in inner Sydney have been the highest-profile target for downsizing, with the NSW government confirming on Thursday the 18-hole course would be configured into a 12-hole layout, despite opposition from golfers.Venues on defence land are also earmarked for sale under the federal government’s defence sell-off.Public courses at Elsternwick in Melbourne and Rosny Park in Hobart have become parklands in recent years, while Victoria Park in Brisbane was closed to golf in 2021 and the green space is now being repurposed for the 2032 Olympic stadium.
The number of the sport’s off-course venues such as driving ranges and simulator arcades is growing annually at almost 17%.However, the Golf Australia chief executive, James Sutherland, said traditional courses were vulnerable to recent trends.“There are a whole lot of different factors in society right now around housing or environmental issues or urban planning issues that can compromise existing golf courses that have been there for a hundred years or more,” he said.“We are very aware of these issues, and we are there to help and support and to assist clubs and facilities in directional issues and advice that can help them to put up the best defence.”Some courses that had been earmarked for conversion in recent years, such as Albert Park and Northcote in Melbourne, have resisted change.
Others, including Hamersley and Wembley in Western Australia, and North Adelaide – which secured a long-term deal on Thursday to host the men’s and women’s Australian Opens – have received substantial public investment,The sport’s governing body in Australia has commissioned research to be completed this year that Sutherland hopes will help underline the benefits of golf courses to decision-makers,“Part of our messaging to those in political parties and others who are in the bureaucracy, they need to understand more about golf and its contribution to our society,” he said,“The economic contribution, the health benefits and the environmental benefits are extremely important and I think are undervalued and not understood well enough,”Gavin Kirkman, chief executive of professionals’ body the PGA of Australia – which was also part of the strategy – said the sport had to become more inclusive.
“I’m a traditionalist, but it’s very interesting to find out that people still don’t feel they’re welcome at certain facilities because they haven’t got a membership, the driveway says members only and so forth, so we’ve still got a lot of work to do there as well.”
Labour loses control of Birmingham city council after 14 years of leadership
The Labour party’s 14-year leadership in Birmingham has come to an end after Reform, Greens and pro-Gaza independents made significant gains in the UK’s second-largest city.No party has yet won an overall majority at Birmingham city council, one of Europe’s largest local authorities, with the results reflecting wider political fragmentation across England.Labour lost hundreds of council seats in England, many to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which made big gains across the Midlands and the north as well as taking seats from the Tories in the south.Labour was expected to take significant losses in the all-out elections in Birmingham, where 101 seats were up for grabs. The council has been plagued by a series of problems in recent years, from the declaration of bankruptcy in 2023, subsequent cuts to local services and the ongoing bin strike – images of rubbish piled on the city’s streets have made headlines across the world
Cracks showing for Labour close to backyards of Starmer’s top team
Keir Starmer hates to lose. Unsurprisingly, he refused to walk away and end his premiership as Labour’s local election losses began to trickle in on Friday morning. Upon entering Downing Street in July 2024 after leading Labour to a historic general election victory, Starmer promised the public that his government would “fight every day until you believe again”.Now, Starmer is faced with the uncomfortable truth that the frustrated yet united coalition that brought him into No 10 hoping for change is completely fractured and its discontent cannot be dismissed as early midterm blues.The cracks are showing very close to the political backyards of Starmer and his top team
Plaid Cymru wins Welsh Senedd elections, ending 100 years of Labour control
Plaid Cymru has won the Welsh Senedd elections, ending 100 years of Labour dominance in Wales and blocking the momentum of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.The leader of the centre-left Welsh nationalist party, Rhun ap Iorwerth, said he stood ready to become first minister and form the next Welsh government, taking over from Welsh Labour, who have governed in Wales since devolution began in 1999.The Plaid win makes a Welsh independence referendum a future possibility, and means all three of the UK’s Celtic nations will now be controlled by separatist parties.Reform UK came second, pushing Labour into a distant third place. Plaid won 43 seats, Reform 34, Labour nine, the Conservatives seven, Greens two and Liberal Democrats one
Badenoch claims Tories ‘coming back’ despite widespread losses in local elections
Kemi Badenoch has claimed that the Conservatives are “coming back” after winning back Westminster council from Labour in London, despite her party suffering significant losses throughout England in Thursday’s elections.The party also saw off a threat from Reform UK in Bexley. But the Tories suffered a series of losses in Essex, where Badenoch herself is an MP, losing 41 seats while Reform gained 52. They held on to Harlow, securing all 11 district council seats available.In Havering, where the Conservatives had 14 councillors before the election, the party was wiped out
Zack Polanski calls two-party politics dead after mayoral and council wins
Zack Polanski has declared Britain’s two-party politics “dead and buried” as his Green party won its first two mayoral elections and gained councillors across England, winning four councils outright.As Labour losses piled up across the country and the Conservatives endured another disappointing set of results, Polanski sought to present his party as emerging from the results as the most viable option for opponents of Reform.“It is very clear that the new politics is the Green party versus Reform,” he said.Speaking at the Hackney count centre in east London, the scene of the first mayoral success, he added: “I said that the Green party were going to replace Labour. That’s exactly what we did in Gorton and Denton, it’s what we’ve done in Hackney, and we’re seeing that right across the country
Lord Beecham obituary
Jeremy Beecham, who has died aged 81, was an outstanding figure in local government as the Labour leader of Newcastle city council from 1977 to 1994.He built on the work of his immediate predecessors in restoring faith in the integrity of the council following the corruption of the T Dan Smith era, and guided it through the unfamiliar territory of collaboration with the new Tyne and Wear county council.He and his team focused on the basic local government responsibilities of council housing, education and social services – the latter his special interest. Initially these priorities led him to allow council staffing levels to run out of control. As a reporter for the Newcastle Chronicle throughout his leadership, I noted in 1978 that the council was employing more than 18,000 people: in the very different circumstances of 2025, the number of full-time equivalent posts was below 7,000
Formula One agrees to engine changes from next season after widespread criticism
Premier League crunch time, the clásico and international cricket – follow with us
British sprinter CJ Ujah among 10 suspects charged over alleged cryptocurrency fraud
How reading the Guardian led to a million-pound move for Cornish Pirates
Wardley v Dubois is bout of uncertainty far more interesting than Fury v Joshua
England’s men to host more five-Test series but play some one-off games overseas