Australian golfing legend Greg Norman has flown into Hobart on a private jet and taken a helicopter tour over the proposed South Arm golf course site.
It comes as the man behind the ambitious project looks to secure a high-profile backer.
Developer Justin Hetrel has spent 14 years and $30 million building a first-of-its-kind A-class water recycling scheme at South Arm.
It pipes treated wastewater 7 kilometres under the Derwent River from Blackmans Bay to irrigate farmland across a peninsula that has been in effective drought since 1975.
“We’re not just about a golf course. We’re about water, which is life,” Hetrel told Pulse.
The golf course is central to the plan – acting as the irrigation scheme’s anchor tenant and heaviest water user – but Hetrel says the bigger prize is delivering irrigation to more than 41 farms across South Arm, Sanford, Cremorne and Clifton Beach.
Norman’s visit was arranged by Hetrel, who pitched Norman at Crown Casino in Melbourne weeks earlier on the plan to blend golf and water infrastructure around South Arm.
Hetrel said Norman was enthusiastic about what he saw from the air, particularly the water infrastructure underpinning the project.
“The shark loves the ocean – that was his backyard I showed him yesterday,” Hetrel said.
Norman then met with Premier Jeremy Rockliff and Treasurer Eric Abetz at Hobart Airport to discuss investment opportunities in the state.
Premier Rockliff said the meeting was a chance to showcase Tasmania’s investment potential.
“It was a fantastic opportunity to promote Tasmania’s unique tourism offerings, our speciality brand and unique identity,” he told Pulse.
“Greg is a well known business person and developer and Tasmania is open for business.”
“Tasmania is entering a new era of opportunity and we are sustainably growing our tourism industry by promoting Tasmania to the world.”
Hetrel’s company is still waiting on key approvals to proceed with construction of the golf course.
The 120-hectare site contains several Aboriginal middens and has drawn opposition from Aboriginal Heritage Tasmania, which has raised concerns about the development.
The Tasmanian Conservation Trust has filed an appeal against a Supreme Court ruling handed down on January 29, which found the development had been substantially commenced and dismissed the TCT’s challenge to the validity of the planning permit.
The TCT is seeking to raise $50,000 to fund the appeal, arguing the case has implications beyond the South Arm site.
“At stake in this appeal is whether Arm End Reserve is saved from destruction by a golf course and associated infrastructure,” the TCT said in a statement.
The conservation group says the 120-hectare Arm End Reserve, formally listed on the Aboriginal Heritage Register in 2013, would be devastated by the development.
It also warned that runoff from the course could threaten the adjacent Opossum Bay Marine Conservation Area – home to the critically endangered spotted handfish.
The Tasmanian government originally granted Hetrel’s company, Mary Ann’s Island Pty Ltd, a lease to build the golf course in 2014 – despite extensive and ongoing opposition from the Aboriginal Heritage Council, who want to see the land protected.
Hetrel acknowledged the approvals path had been difficult, saying a development permit granted in 2018 lapsed in 2022 and his company was now working with Aboriginal Heritage Tasmania to reinstate it.
“It’s got more and more sensitive as we’ve gone down the road,” he said.
He hopes to resolve the approvals pathway with the state government within eight weeks.
“We’re working to get an outcome that satisfies all the parties around the table,” Hetrel said.
Hetrel said his company has invested around $30 million to date, with a further $25 million needed to complete the first stage.
Pending approvals, construction could start as early as June 1, with the course opening roughly 10 months later.
He confirmed Norman was being pursued as a financial backer.
“We are looking to get Greg investing in the state,” Hetrel said.
