Wentworth Falls Country Club enters into development contract
The golf course at Wentworth Falls could be lined with more than 65 retirement villas, under a new initiative from the Country Club to secure its financial future.
The club entered into a contract with a developer in December, setting the stage for a possible Development Application (DA) later this year.
While no DA has yet been submitted, the early community consultations outline 65 to 80 villas distributed around three areas of the golf course, forming a boutique living community for seniors.
Under the agreement Wentworth Falls Country Club will receive three annual payments, securing the club’s finances for the next five-to-six years, even if plans progress no further.
In return, the developer has the option to submit a DA for sites on the golf course – which, if approved, will further fund the club annually based on sales.
Colin Cayless, President and Chair of the Wentworth Falls Country Club Board, said that if development proceeds some holes on the golf course will be modified but it will remain Par 18.
He also said the nature of the development – retirement villas – will offer much-needed housing options to elderly Blue Mountains residents looking to downsize.
“Even without any additional payments, the club now has several years of life,” he said.
“We think it’s in many ways a win-win-win. We’d prefer to be doing nothing, but we had to decide what was the best way forward.”
The club is also finalising an agreement to lease out the upper floor, which has been closed since 2022, for use as a restaurant and bar.
Further plans to improve the club include a simulated golf area, a junior program to provide school lessons, and early talks of pickleball courts or other facilities.
Mr Cayless is part of a new Board of Directors for the club formed between January and May last year.
He said the club had been losing around $220,000 annually for the last five years, and that without immediate funding it would likely have been bankrupt by December 2024.
“We considered a lot of options. We considered going into insolvency… [or] going under some form of protection, but those had major constraints and costs associated,” he said.
“So having now got some sort of financial stability and base, and certainty of our future, we think it really allows us to engage heavily with the community.”
