Doubts over golf club’s relocation
Maidenhead: Delay to Borough Local Plan impacts on ability to create a new course
Questions have been raised about whether or not Maidenhead Golf Course will be able to move off of its current site on Royal Borough land by 2023.
Currently, Maidenhead Golf Club has a lease for the land until 2039. The Royal Borough offered a financial incentive to move off the land before 2023, so that new homes can be built there instead.
Until recently, it was reasonably certain the golf club would move off the site. It has its sights on a location in Fifield.
However, as the Borough Local Plan has been delayed,
this has created difficulty and uncertainty.
Building a new golf course takes around five years.
“The contracts are all tied up together and all depend on the borough plan being approved,” said club chairman Paul Louden. “The fact that the borough plan is delayed significantly from when we initially wrote the contract, that makes
it very difficult. We have a very short timescale to develop a new course on our own.”
Because of this, there has been growing opposition by the club members against the move.
“There is a resistance among club members that wasn’t there before,” said Mr Louden. “Most members want to stay on the current site. We have been messed around so much and people are worried the club will be dissolved after 125 years.”
“We’re looking to widen our options as much as possible – no one wants a legal battle,” he added.
The Royal Borough was asked about the terms of the agreement, and responded:
“We remain firmly committed to continuing to work collaboratively with Maidenhead
Golf Club as we look to bring the site forward with our joint venture development partner CALA Homes.”