Retirement village pitched as lifeline for Blue Mountains golf club

Wentworth Falls Country Club President and Chair Colin Cayless presented councillors with the stark realities of a proposed 63-home retirement village at a 30 March Blue Mountains City Council meeting.

Verso Development Group has submitted a $51.6 million proposal for a leasehold retirement village, designed by ThomsonAdsett, built on three lots of the club’s existing 18-hole golf course.

Under the agreement, Wentworth Falls Country Club, which was founded in 1913, would receive income from each future home sale in perpetuity, securing its long-term operational future while funding critical facility upgrades and maintaining an 18-hole course.

“If we hadn’t signed the agreement, the club would have been closed,” Colin said.

Verso Development Group Chief Executive Officer Steve Laffey emphasised extensive community consultation undertaken throughout 2025, which helped shape the final plans.

“Throughout the design process, we have remained faithful to ensuring the design fits seamlessly into the existing neighbourhood. It will be mostly single-storey, and will include a mix of materials consistent with the Upper Mountains, such as stone, render, and timber cladding,” Steve said.

The report states the developer’s design aims to mitigate flood concerns by raising the floor levels of the housing, and redesigning the golf course to create new channels and basins to safely redirect the floodwaters around the new buildings.

The DA is currently on public exhibition until April 22, 2026. The final decision on whether the application will be approved will not be made by the Blue Mountains City Council, but by the independent Local Planning Panel.