Building on the green belt is a ‘threat to golf clubs’

A golf club in Surrey has said building commercial properties on nearby green belt land is a threat to its future.

Surbiton Golf Club had opposed a planning application to build 11 studios for business start-ups and three new homes which will be accessed through its course. The club said this would affect play on its first, fifth and eighth holes, but the application was approved.

One of the councillors is reported to have said she had never heard of a golf club going out of business.

Officers at the planning meeting said the bar was very high for assessing ‘harm’ in green belt land that was previously developed, as had been the case here as the land had been used as stables and a shop.

Surbiton Golf Club. Image from Facebook

Keith Blake, chairman of Surbiton Golf Club, spoke at the meeting to object to the plans, which he called the “biggest threat to the future of the club and course”.

The club, which has been in existence since 1895, has around 700 members and membership fees of £1,900. Blake said the club did not object to some development of homes on the site, but saw the commercial element as “perhaps a step too far” and that traffic needed to be reduced or limited.

He added: “Otherwise, I see the members walking and joining other clubs. If we lose 20 percent of our membership, the club will not be in existence for the community in the future.” An officer’s report into the application said the plans were not “considered to adversely impact upon Surbiton Golf Club to warrant a refusal reason”. Conditions had been put on traffic entering the site both during the construction phases and once in use.

Conservative councillor Rachael Lake reportedly asked councillors to raise their hands if they had ever heard of a golf course going out of business or bankrupt, because she had not. She added: “I sympathise because it’s all perception. It’s the fear of going to the dentist, when you get there, it’s nowhere near as bad as you think.”