Liverpool’s courses face closure threat

Liverpool’s two municipal golf venues, which represent four golf clubs, could be closed down by the local council in a bid to cut costs.

Allerton Golf Course, which is home to Allerton, Dudley and Allerton Ladies golf clubs, and Liverpool North (Kirkby) Golf Course, run at a loss.

Liverpool City Council needs to find £32 million of savings following a cut in its central government grants, and it believes closing the golf courses would equate to £300,000 of the total figure, according to a leaked budget report.

However, according to the Liverpool Echo, following an outcry from golfers, the city’s mayor, Joe Anderson, has said the courses still have opportunities to remain open.

“Fifty-two per cent of our budget has been taken off us,” he said. “And this is a situation that is only going to get worse.

“The courses will only close if ways of making them pay fail.”

He added that if the council is unable to find a new operator by June, green fees and membership subscriptions would have to rise.

And if that initiative failed to stop them making a loss, then the courses could be closed as soon as next April, with one option being selling the land for housing.

Lydia Brennan, of Allerton Ladies, said: “We are going to fight this all the way.”

Last month Leeds City Council decided to give two of its municipal courses a 12-month reprieve to see if they can reduced losses.