Golf course may close to accommodate housing
By Alistair Dunsmuir
A golf course in Leicestershire may be closed down amid plans to build hundreds of new homes in the area.
Enderby Leisure and Golf Course is a nine-hole course that is run by Everyone Golf and predominantly owned by Blaby District Council.
The council has announced plans for a new residential community named Hayes Gardens, featuring 800 homes.
Image from Facebook
The land they would be built on includes the golf course and an office complex owned by Santander UK, which has excess land suitable for residential purposes.
The council has said the plan is in its early stages but has the potential to aid in fulfilling its government-mandated objective of identifying land for 687 homes annually until 2036.
It has reportedly said the golf course could close down as part of the project.
Council leader Terry Richardson said the authority would be seeking residents’ views on the scheme before proposing to include it in its local plan development strategy.
“Working with Santander we see Hayes Gardens as a model sustainable community,” he said.
“In addition to providing much needed housing, this development will look to provide more publicly accessible green space and biodiversity.
“Improved pedestrian, cycling and vehicle access routes could also help ease the long-standing congestion issues in Enderby, particularly around Mill Lane.”
Santander UK’s head of property Nick Roberts said: “Since 2021 we have consolidated our office space [at Carlton Park] into one of five office buildings, letting three of the buildings to tenants, with one remaining building being marketed to let.
“We want to play our part in supporting the local plan, enabling more housing and contributing to the wider local community in which we operate.”
A number of comments from local people on X and Facebook suggested they oppose losing green spaces for housing.
By Alistair Dunsmuir
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This seems like an incredibly stupid decision. If there is really no other space around Blaby to build new houses, then fair enough. But it’s really difficult to believe that there is nowhere else in the area that they could use – especially a brownfield site – rather than bury a popular golf course under houses. Golf courses are green, and an amenity for the local area.
And the comment that building 687 houses will “ease long standing congestion” in the area is ludicrous.
This seems like an incredibly stupid decision. If there is really no other space around Blaby to build new houses, then fair enough. But it’s really difficult to believe that there is nowhere else in the area that they could use – especially a brownfield site – rather than bury a popular golf course under houses. Golf courses are green, and an amenity for the local area.
And the comment that building 687 houses will “ease long standing congestion” in the area is ludicrous.
Typical, you can see the council thinking, 800 new council tax payees V income from the golf course. It’s laughable they claim that as part of the development they will be looking to enhance access to green spaces/ walks etc.
more worrying is the 685 homes every year for the next 12 years. I wonder if they have the support services in place for the population associated with 8,000 houses?