This is the implementation of the Golf Club scheme. As you know the Golf Club was very run down under its previous managers.
In order to ensure that the Golf Course is maintained and run on public access terms, the council invited tenders some time ago for a redevelopment of the Club house and the provision of a long term service agreement.
Stax Leisure won the tender and the proposal, which was given planning consent some months ago, means that in exchange for their building a private sports club, they will pay a substantial annual rent, will be obliged to maintain the Golf Course to a high standard, and offer public access on terms no worse than the a formula based on the average charges levied by local public courses (effectively future proofing green fees so as to ensure that it is affordable).
The Council retains the freehold and if Stax does not maintain the Golf Course and ancillary facilities, this will be a breach of covenant.
Mr Berends has put out another posting on this site, mainly concerned with the Squires Garden Centre site, in which he invites people to object.
At the end of the day public bodies such as the Council which have landholdings must manage them effectively. Without capital funding to invest in improvement of the course or facilities, and without anyone being prepared to run the course on terms which do not involve some enabling development; the only way forward is to engage in a long-term partnership with a developer who is prepared to invest in the property as a whole.
In the current political environment, where Councils can't borrow loads of money for big capital projects, this is common sense.
Even if the borough could borrow enough money to fix the course and rebuild the clubhouse, they would then be paying out for 25-30 years, with the profits from the public course almost certainly inadequate to cover this. Golf is no longer the moneyspinner it was perceived to be a few years ago, and public access courses less so. |
