GOYANG — About 200 residents, landowners and citizens who support expanding the Springhills golf course in Sanhwang-dong to 18 holes have formed a citywide citizens' committee and called for the project to proceed. The Goyang City Council in Gyeonggi Province, meanwhile, has decided to launch an administrative investigation into the project's legality.
The citizens' committee backing the 18-hole expansion held a launch ceremony and rally in front of Goyang City Hall on the afternoon of the 25th. The committee called on the city to withdraw its plan to revoke, on its own authority, the implementation permit issued on June 17 last year, and to carry out the follow-up administrative steps required by that permit.
The rally drew Sanhwang-dong residents, landowners of the project site, Goyang citizens and golf course employees. Participants chanted slogans such as "15 years is enough," "Law and principle over politics" and "Resolution over conflict." The committee's co-representatives include resident representative Kim Tae-kwon, landowner representative Park Sang-chul and citizen representative Yang Hyeong-seung.
The co-representatives signed a joint declaration and announced "Seven Citywide Actions," including a citizens' petition drive, an open inquiry to the Goyang mayor, a demand for a fair review by the city council, disclosure of administrative records, verification by environmental, legal and administrative experts, expanded public debate among citizens, and responses to claims they say are untrue. They also plan to run an online platform for public discussion to share related information with citizens.
"We are not standing here to bring anyone down, but to get an answer that has been delayed for 15 years," the committee said. "If there is a right to oppose, there is also a right to support. The residents, landowners and citizens of Sanhwang-dong are all Goyang citizens too."
The project would add nine holes to the existing nine, expanding the course to 18 holes. After receiving approval of the greenbelt management plan from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Gyeonggi Province, along with a strategic environmental impact assessment and an environmental impact assessment, the implementation permit was decided and announced on June 17 last year.
"If an already finalized permit is reversed without legitimate legal grounds, the city must explain to citizens who will bear the liability for damages," the committee said, demanding disclosure of the specific basis for the revocation and any changed administrative or legal grounds.
The committee also raised concerns about fairness in the administrative process. It noted that for the existing nine holes, the implementation permit was granted about three months after the urban management plan decision in 2007, whereas for the additional nine holes, the permit was announced 11 years after the 2014 decision.
The Goyang City Council passed a "motion to launch an administrative investigation into reviewing the legality of the Sanhwang-dong golf course expansion" at a plenary session of its 307th extraordinary session the previous day. Council member Jang Yoon-jung led the motion, and 11 members, including Choi Sung-won, supported it.
The investigation is to review the appropriateness of the urban planning facility decision process surrounding the golf course expansion in the area of 424-10 Sanhwang-dong, Ilsandong-gu, whether the long-unexecuted urban planning facility should be lifted, and concerns over public safety and environmental damage.
"This investigation goes beyond simply being for or against the golf course expansion. It is meant to protect citizens' safety and the environment and to confirm whether law and principle were properly upheld in the process of deciding and executing the urban planning facility," Jang said, adding that the panel would be formed regardless of party affiliation or one's position for or against the project.
In October 2023, the city council unanimously passed a "resolution opposing the Sanhwang-dong golf course expansion and urging the abolition of the urban planning facility" and forwarded it to the city. On February 20, 2025, at a plenary session attended by all 34 members, it unanimously passed a "recommendation to lift the long-unexecuted urban planning facility."
