113-year-old golf club set to be converted into 1,000 homes

Alistair Dunsmuir
By Alistair Dunsmuir July 25, 2020 06:46

A private members’ golf club in Hampshire is set to be converted into a community including shops and 1,000 homes.

According to the Romsey Advertiser, plans to redevelop Basingstoke Golf Club have been given the green light.

The club’s members agreed to sell the land in 2011.

As well as the homes, a new local centre, including shops, community facilities and a day nursery, will be constructed, alongside sports facilities and a number of traveller pitches.

Bloor Homes submitted plans for the site last year.

John Lusty, regional managing director for Bloor Homes Southern, said: “Our proposals provide the opportunity to create a new high-quality sustainable community set in a unique landscape setting and within easy reach of new and planned community, recreational and sports facilities.”

Last year John Hiscock, managing secretary of the golf club, said: “The submission of the planning application by Bloor Homes represents a major step forward and we look forward to monitoring progress of the plans and continuing to work with Bloor Homes and the project team in the coming months.”

The green light from the council marks a significant breakthrough for the club – which has been discussing this development for over a decade.

In 2011 it was reported that members of the club overwhelmingly voted in favour of selling their course to a developer. It was said at the time that the members were expected to use the money to buy a new golf club.

Approximately 77 per cent of the club’s 700-strong membership voted for the 43.4 hectare site to be available for bids from developers, after the local council had outlined it as one of several greenfield sites that could be the location for thousands of homes to be built by 2026.

Reports in 2008 suggested each member could receive a six-figure windfall from the sale, but a spokesman for the club three years later said that figure was “highly inflated.”

Meanwhile, Hawkhurst Golf Club in Kent is also set for a major redevelopment – as it could be replaced with 374 homes and developers are making a third attempt to build more than 100 homes on Horwich Golf Club in Lancashire.

 

Alistair Dunsmuir
By Alistair Dunsmuir July 25, 2020 06:46
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1 Comment

  1. Raymond H July 25, 15:01

    Another sad day.

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