The potential closure of a 60-year-old golf course would be a “devastating” loss to the community if plans to build housing on the site are approved.
Bloor Homes is proposing 200 homes at Shrivenham Park Golf Club in Oxfordshire, amid a warning from the governing body for amateur golf, over a significant rise in “proposals involving partial or full loss of golf provision” across the country, within the last few years.
Jim Boise, the club’s greenkeeper and junior players’ coach, described the club as a family and is among those opposing the plans.
The proposals reflect a wider debate across the country and Ben Cooper, head of the Fabian Housing Centre, a left-leaning think tank, says golf courses are often a poor use of land that could instead be used to build homes.
A spokesperson for Bloor Homes, said 35% of scheme would be affordable homes and it would “secure land for a community facility, whilst also providing a substantial permanent green gap between Shrivenham and Watchfield”.
Jim Boise said the potential closure would be a huge loss to the community [BBC/Lilah Parsons]
However, Boise said the potential closure would be a huge loss to the community.
He told BBC Oxford: “This is a grassroots club, it’s for everybody, it’s not elitist, you don’t pay exorbitant fees to play golf here”.
Describing his colleagues at the club as “like a family”, he said the team was “devastated” by the prospect of losing the club.
He questioned the need to “spoil a lovely bit of land that’s open to everybody” to build the houses.
The golf course is 60 years old [BBC/Lilah Parsons]
Gavin Anderson, of England Golf, said their biggest concern was that the sites where development is proposed are often the places that provide affordable, entry‑level access to the sport.
“When these facilities disappear, an entire pathway into the sport is put at risk,” he added.
But Cooper argued “affordable homes and genuinely accessible green spaces” were needed “in every part of the country”.
He said building on golf courses was “a win-win for both” and finding a way to use golf courses for housing could “better deliver great places to live”.
Five-year-old Jude has been coming to the club with his grandma, Brenda [BBC/Lilah Parsons]
Among the families that use Shrivenham Park is Brenda and her grandchildren.
She praised its accessibility: “The class that my grandson’s been doing cost £5 for a session, which is remarkable value compared to a lot of other sports and activities.”
Witney MP Charlie Maynard says the community is “completely distraught about what could happen here” [BBC/Lilah Parsons]
Witney MP Charlie Maynard is supporting locals in their fight to save the club.
“This is a community asset, and it should be respected as such” he said, warning that “once this is gone, it’s gone,” he said.
He described the space as ‘the green lung’ between the villages of Watchfield and Shrivenham, which he said the community relied on.
It has been a theme across the country where golf courses are being replaced by houses.
In Stockport, 244 new homes will be built at the former Gatley Golf Course in Heald Green, despite a 1,600 strong petition to stop the land from being developed.
And in January, campaigners gathered to protest against a decision to close their local golf club in Sussex, so 3,000 homes could be built on the site.
Watchfield resident Chelsea Addis said she is worried about the added pressure on local infrastructure [BBC/Lilah Parsons]
Maynard also raised concerns about the impact of additional homes on local infrastructure, including schools, sewage and NHS services, which he said were already under pressure.
His concerns were echoed by Watchfield resident Chelsea Addis, who had joined a local action group opposing the plans.
“When I first moved to Shrivenham seven years ago you could ring up [the local doctor’s surgery] in the morning and have an appointment within four hours,” she said.
She added this had “completely changed” over the last few years and that she was concerned extra homes would exacerbate the situation.
Watchfield resident Sue Nodder said she is concerned about the local wildlife [BBC/Lilah Parsons]
There were also concerns about the impact of new homes on the local wildlife as the golf club backs onto Tuckmill Meadows, a nature reserve designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Sue Nodder, who joined the Save Shrivenham Park Golf Club action group, said that the “otters and newts and lots of birds” in the meadows, along with the “very rare flora and fauna” could be disrupted by the development.
“We’re really worried that if development happens on the golf course, the disruption to the hydrology and the new people that come to the area, although unwittingly, they are going to destroy a very, very fragile habitat,” she said.
The spokesperson for Bloor Homes, added: “The scheme will occupy around 13 acres of the 70 acre site, with the residual land being retained as public open space for community use.”
A public inquiry into the plans begins on 22 September.
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