Renewed Golf Course Debate Sparks Controversy in Alto Garda Trentino
The project to build a golf course in Alto Garda Trentino, an idea already rejected two years ago through a popular referendum, has resurfaced once again, bringing with it a flurry of controversy.
The green, a notion long favored by some hoteliers and entrepreneurs from Benaco, was rather clumsily revived in recent days at the Riva del Garda town council by the provincial councilor for industry and tourism, Marco Benedetti of Arch®.
It should be noted that Garda Trentino, unlike the Veronese and Brescia shores, cannot currently boast a golf course among its tourist amenities. This is a longstanding, sensitive issue that touches on painful points and exposes nerve endings.
On one side are environmentalists, and on the other, tourism operators and entrepreneurs. The first trace of a project for an “eighteen-hole” golf course in Alto Garda Trentino dates back to 1987-88.
The proposal was advanced by Gianni Benuzzi, then mayor of Dro, a town of 3,500 inhabitants in the immediate hinterland of Garda, a few kilometers north of Arco.
The idea was to develop it at the Marocche di Dro, an area of high environmental value in large part protected as a Trentino biotope—an expanse of boulders formed during glaciations and ancient landslides, where fossilized dinosaur footprints were even discovered two years ago.
Benuzzi’s project, however, was ultimately shelved. In 1999, the Progolf committee—gathering the Union of Commerce and Tourism of Alto Garda and the Business Coordinating Body—renewed the idea alongside the center-left administration of Dro.
The Progolf committee visited golf courses in Benaco, Brescia, and Verona, commissioned a preliminary plan from Swiss architect Peter Harradine, and presented it to the press.
But the idea of touching the Marocche, even if only at its outer borders, sparked environmental protests. The majority in the municipal council also split, fearing environmental damage and real estate speculation around the “virgin” tourist area of Lago di Cavedine.
A request for a municipal referendum was loudly made. Progolf and the mayor agreed, confident of victory. But they were mistaken. On November 14, 1999, the golf course was rejected by about 55% of voters.
Since then, discussions about golf courses have ceased—at least officially. Buried under the referendum, the project was also removed from urban planning documents.
However, last week, provincial councilor Benedetti unexpectedly reopened the debate. He reignited the issue, resurrecting the golf project in Dro, a move surely supported by local hoteliers.
Benedetti stated that it is necessary “to overcome the referendum through territorial agreements,” provide some compensation to the town of Dro, and start planning as soon as possible.
Nevertheless, his proposal drew criticism from WWF and groups of citizens from Dro. They accused him of disregarding the population’s vote expressed via referendum, overlooking the area’s significant environmental value, and snubbing the town of Dro, by proposing his ideas to Riva.
Moreover, Benedetti caused discomfort even among the very entrepreneurs and politicians—such as Gianni Benuzzi, who has once again become mayor of Dro after about ten years—who were working on a less contradictory, more moderate plan to reintroduce the project to public opinion.
