Saved Deal struck to preserve future of Cleeve Hill club
CLEEVE Hill Golf Club has been saved from closure as a company has been chosen to take over and create a “first class golf club”.
Cotswold Hub Co has been selected as their preferred bidder to transform the clubhouse and build a new restaurant and accommodation lodges on Cleeve Hill, Tewkesbury Borough Council said.
The golf course has existed on Cleeve Hill for more than a century in different forms, and was designed by the father of golf Old Tom Morris who worked on 75 courses in the British Isles.
The course also benefits the wider community who walk, cycle, and ride horseback on Cleeve Hill which boasts commanding views of Cheltenham, Gloucester, Winchcombe, Bishop’s Cleeve and beyond.
It has faced closure since last summer after civic chiefs confirmed the golf club would close next April after it decided to terminate the licence for the course due to its “financial unviability”.
But in October the borough council approved plans in private to set up a long lease of 125 years for the clubhouse, subject to various conditions, after several parties expressed interest in trying to conserve golf on the hill.
Cotswold Hub Co, founded by Gloucestershire-raised Nick Hovey and Sam Foyle, was awarded the bid due to its “remarkable proposal”, the authority said.
Mr Hovey has had a career in the property and development industry, the borough council said, adding Mr Foyle runs a golf business in Gloucestershire.
The authority said the proposal “promises to deliver a place ‘where cyclists, walkers, golfers, riders, wildlife enthusiasts and historians share a common interest: the unique Cleeve Hill.’”
The company plans to “transform” the clubhouse facilities, but also build a new restaurant, cafe, accommodation lodges and a shared space where people can meet and work for the whole community.
The borough council and the Cleeve Common Trust chose the Cotswold Hub Co to take on a new tenancy of the golf clubhouse site as well as a new licence to play golf on the common, lasting 125 years. The lease and licence will begin on April 1.
Tewkesbury Borough Council’s leader, councillor Rob Bird (C, Cleeve West) , said: “This fantastic announcement is the direct result of consistently pursuing a very clear objective, to enable golf to continue on this completely unique course if at all financially viable, and to achieve improvement to the site itself and better community facilities.
“This excellent Cotswold Hub Co proposal more than delivers on our four crucial criteria, of enhancing the space for use by the community, protecting the local environment, protecting public access and being commercially sustainable.”
Councillor Robert Vines (C, Badgeworth), lead member for finance and asset management, said: “I am really pleased that the council has been able to secure the future of this fantastic asset for Tewkesbury Borough.
“This important financial investment is a great deal for the taxpayer as well as visitors to the common and we look forward to working with the Cotswold Hub Co and Cleeve Common Trust on this exciting venture.”
Councillor Richard Stanley (LD, Cleeve West), lead member for health and wellbeing, said: “This is a brilliant result for local people and visitors to the area. I am delighted that the Cotswold Hub Co is offering much more than just the renovation of a building - it is aiming to provide facilities for a wider community of people at this spectacular setting.
“Having an offering like this in Tewkesbury Borough will do great things for the health and wellbeing of local people and visitors alike, and will continue to preserve the Cleeve Common for future generations.”
Mr Hovey, said: “Cleeve Hill is an iconic golf course and to play a part in ensuring its legacy continues is special.
“We are keen to provide continuity for Cleeve’s existing golf members whilst allowing the club to thrive by providing better facilities, improving the standard of the course and encouraging membership growth from the local area, which will be the heartbeat of the club for years to come.”
Mr Foyle added: “We are incredibly excited about the opportunity and future of Cleeve Hill.
“We have brought together the bestin-class team, from architects, hospitality, through to golf management.
“All are deeply passionate about delivering the facilities and hub that Cleeve Hill rightly deserves.”
Chairman of Cleeve Common Trust, Phil Robson, said: “We are thrilled that we have been able to retain the playing of golf on Cleeve Common. The course is considered to be of historical value within the world of golf, but it is also part of the history of the common.
“The plans that the Cotswold Hub Co have developed will provide a step change in the facilities that are available to all users of the common in an environmentally sympathetic way.
“For hundreds of years the common has not only provided valuable pasture for the grazing of animals but it has been an invaluable place for recreation, which has proved its importance to the local community during the pandemic.
“The Cotswold Hub Co facility will massively enhance the visitor experience and will become a destination in its own right. We look forward to a close working partnership with The Cotswold Hub Co.”
Councillor Helen Munro (LD, Cleeve Grange) said: “I am pleased for the residents of Bishop’s Cleeve that our amazing local Common has its future not just safeguarded but improved. The new facilities will be a welcome sight for walkers, cyclists and golfers alike and I’m pleased the efforts of campaigners, who worked hard to secure the future of golf and the Common after the initial disappointing news golf was to cease and the clubhouse knocked down, have paid off.”