Victoria Park Golf Course will close in 2021 and be replaced by an enormous 45-hectare public park, the Sunday Mail reports.

The park will be Brisbane’s biggest new public park in almost half a century, and once completed will be second in size only to the Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens. It will be more than double the size of the City Botanic Gardens.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner announced the plan yesterday and said council was considering a bunch of entertainment facilities for the new park, including pop-up cinemas, markets and recreation areas. Schrinner likened the green space to Central Park in New York City or Hyde Park in London.

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The decision to close Victoria Park Gold Course comes after a steady decline in patronage over recent years.

“About 26 hectares of this council land is currently used as a pay and play public golf course, which over recent years has seen a decline in patronage and a reduction in revenue,” Schrinner said in a Facebook post. “From 2021, works will start to transform the golf course into public parkland.

“The function centre, wedding venue, putt putt course and golf driving range will continue to operate.”

“Council will involve the community in every step of this planning process and will hold forums and public consultation as well as engage experts to create the best design for this green space,” Schrinner told the Sunday.

The Brisbane Times reports the plan was welcomed by the city’s opposition Labor councillors, who argued they had been calling for a rethink of golf courses for at least a year.

“We’ve been calling for a rethink on golf courses across the city for at least the last 12 months,” Labor councillor Kara Cook is quoted in the paper as saying.

“ ... The LNP have said that the ALP was waging a war on golfers. If that was a war, this [closing Victoria Park Golf Course] has got to be armageddon.”