Planning sought for £60m ‘The Ayrshire’
Developers have filed for planning permission to build a major new multi-million pound golf course in Scotland.
The Ayrshire, in Irvine Bay, will be an 18-hole links pay-and-play course featuring a hotel and holiday homes spread over 171 acres, if North Ayrshire Council accepts the application.
“The project will be developed by The Ayrshire Golf Company, a joint venture between property investment and development company Credential Holdings and KPT,” said a spokesman for the project.
“The new course will be designed by acclaimed golf architects Glen Golf Design, who’s principal designer was involved in creations including The Castle course in St Andrews, Machrihanish Dunes at Kintyre and the celebrated Bandon Dunes in Oregon.
“Construction of the par 70 golf course and hotel at Irvine Bay, with clubhouse, professional’s shop, spa, restaurant and conference facilities, will take around 20 months and involve at least 250 construction jobs. Once complete, the development will require around 90 full-time and 45 part-time employees ranging from greenkeepers to bar tenders, caddies and hotel managers.”
Currently around 240,000 visitors from around the world come to play golf in Ayrshire each year.
In light of the financial difficulties foer existing clubs in Ayrshire, and the over abundance of ‘championship’ style courses already existing along the ayrshire coast, I believe this is one course too many. In Scotland as whole we are well catersd for with approximately 1 course per %00 population(if I remember correctly)
Lets advertise and play on the fantastc existing courses and let them survive.
Before approving this application North Ayrshire Council should eveluate the potential negative effect such a development would have on the large number of well established member, municipal and proprietary clubs in Ayrshire.
One would think that visitors to Ayrshire for golf are already well catered for,