Set within Melbourne’s remnant sandbelt heathlands, the Sandy Golf Links Masterplan reimagines the public golf course as a layered ecological landscape — where sport, habitat regeneration and community use are intrinsically connected. Developed by MEMLA in collaboration with ecologists, local conservation groups and Bayside City Council, the masterplan responds to the site’s fragile heathland ecology through the rehabilitation of indigenous vegetation communities, water-sensitive landscapes and long-term land management strategies.  

Drawing from the historic “Sandringham Flora” and the site’s remnant Heathy Woodland and Sand Heathland ecologies, the project proposes a landscape framework that extends beyond the fairways to restore biodiversity and strengthen habitat corridors across the broader Bayside context. Indigenous planting palettes, ecological burning practices and the staged removal of invasive Coast Tea-tree and Coast Wattle form part of a regenerative approach shaped by local environmental knowledge and ongoing stewardship.    

Rather than separating recreation from ecology, the masterplan positions golf as a catalyst for environmental repair — integrating wetlands, canopy restoration and resilient native landscapes into a contemporary public open space for the community.