Golf club plans to remove clubhouse due to energy costs

The owners of a Suffolk golf club have applied for permission to convert the clubhouse into a four-bedroom home.

Peter Clapperton and Susan Moore, who have owned Clare Park Lake Golf Club since 1993, want to make the change because they’re building a new reception room to replace the clubhouse, and because of increasing costs mixed with reduced usage of the facility.

Permission for a new reception building, which will provide the facilities that the current clubhouse offers, was granted earlier this year.

The club says this change will ensure the golf course remains operational.

Clare Park Lake Golf Club. Image from Facebook

A statement to the council said: “Unfortunately, due to the lack of customer demand and the increasing cost of heating and energy it is no longer economic to continue to open the clubhouse.

“The applicants wish to keep the golf course operational, but can only afford to do this if it can be run at a low cost.

“The clubhouse needs a viable use, and it is therefore proposed to convert the whole of the clubhouse to a dwelling.

“Commercial use as a clubhouse, tea shop and meeting facility having been tried for many years have all failed to provide sufficient return.”

The statement said the applicant has also tried to sell the site as a whole for almost two years.

The home would include four bedrooms on the first floor, with an open plan living room, dining area and kitchen, office and snug on the ground floor.