Golf legend Greg Norman will be in West Dapto on Wednesday morning to inspect the progress of an under-construction golf course bearing his name.
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After flying in to Illawarra Regional Airport, Mr Norman will join bosses from the Sydney-based, Chinese-backed Visionary Investment Group at the old Huntley Colliery, where they plan to unveil ambitious $700 million plans for the troublesome development site.
The former site of the Huntley Colliery was closed in 1989 and has been subject to a number of stalled development plans in recent years.
To be titled the “Silkari Resort at Avondale”, the early stages of Mr Norman’s golf resort – once tipped to be worth $1 billion – have been underway since gaining approval in 2011.
According to old building plans lodged by former site owners HTT Huntley Heritage owners Ken Tugral and Robert Renshall, the 18-hole course was to be the centrepiece of a golf lover's paradise planned for the former industrial site.
There were to be 62 stay-and-play lodges, a stylish clubhouse and state-of-the-art teaching facility for players to perfect their golfing technique.
Read more: Great White Shark praises new Huntley course
However, with the new developers planning to unveil a new vision for the area on-site on Wednesday, this could be set to change.
During his last visit to Wollongong in early 2013, Mr Norman checked out design work on the first two holes.
Then, he praised the natural beauty of the site and said the course would “have the capability of hosting a prestigious event”.
He also said he was happy with the way it was progressing, and that it would “start taking good form here in the next year or two as we finish the project”.
Completion of the course was originally slated for 2015. However, the entire project has been hit by delays.
While in town on Wednesday, Mr Norman will also attend a lunch at the University of Wollongong to discuss how VIG’s plans could lead to “ exciting potential linkages” with the university.
Read more at www.illawarramercury.com.au on Wednesday.