Golf club may take council to court over plans to demolish its clubhouse

An Essex golf club is threatening to take legal action against its local authority in a dispute over the proposed loss of its clubhouse.

Hartswood Golf Club has said the efforts that have been made to mitigate the loss of the facility, which still has 13 years to run on a 60-year lease, are insufficient.

The issue centres around Brentwood Borough Council’s £7 million plan to revamp the King George’s Playing Fields – including a new pavilion building, splash pad and a new outdoor adventure play area, and the demolition of the club’s clubhouse.

The club, which has about 80 members, has exclusive use of a large club room, bar and kitchen, including separate lockers and showers for men and women.

The latest plans provide four changing rooms for footballers and golfers and a club room that is a third of the size of what the club has at the moment – but which is separated from a larger area with a sliding partition door.

A club spokesman said last month: “According to our solicitor we have a watertight case and quite frankly that has not been contested by the other side at all.

“We are at the point where we are saying to them unless we make some positive progress by the end of this year then we will take legal action.

“Nothing has been sorted with Hartswood Golf Club and we have gone to the lawyers – that is now between the two parties.

“They are asking us to give up our rights under a 60 years lease we hold – which has 13 years still to run.

“They have offered an amount of space which is about a third of the size of what we have at the moment.

“The talk as far as the council is concerned is the new building is for common use – we would not have as they are suggesting any exclusively closed areas as we have at the moment.”