Yorkshire course to halve holes to save costs

A golf course in Yorkshire is set to downsize from 18 to nine holes so that holiday homes can be built at the venue.

Akebar Park is a caravan park in the Yorkshire Dales that features an 18-hole golf course and a pub. An application to build 27 holiday homes there has been submitted to Richmondshire District Council, and planners are recommending it for approval.

Supporting documents submitted with the application state the business suffered badly due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The documents added: “As the crisis continued it became obvious that longer term measures had to be taken to strengthen the business and ensure that the furloughed staff had jobs to return to after the crisis passed.

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“For some time it had been acknowledged that the caravan park side of Akebar Park supported most of the other parts of the business, particularly the 18-hole golf course which is relatively expensive to maintain and operate and produces only limited revenue.

“After some careful consideration the applicant has made the decision to reduce the golf from an 18-hole to a nine-hole course to reduce costs, support the business and defend the jobs on the site.

“This reduction in size will help reduce the excessive maintenance and overheads involved with an 18-hole course and will help maintain the actual viability of operating a golf course facility on the site.”