Petition aims to halt sale of golf club land for homes
● A PETITION has been launched opposing the potential sale of land at Widnes Golf Club for homes in a bid to keep it as a green space.
Cllr Andrea Wall of the Kingsway ward has written the online document addressed to both the Highfield Road club and Halton Borough Council.
The petition urges Widnes Golf Club members to vote against alleged proposals from their committee to sell land at the site for housing developments.
It said that building houses on the ‘important green space’ would ‘heavily impact’ on pupil places at schools in the vicinity, many of which are ‘hugely over subscribed’.
An increase in traffic, travelling times and pollution are also highlighted as potential outcomes if houses were built.
It said traffic on Liverpool Road and Highfield Road is already ‘at capacity’.
The petition said: “We believe that the green space of Widnes Golf Club is extremely important in terms of making up part of the ● ‘green lung’ of Widnes.
“It has for many decades been a central green space in the heart of Widnes and we believe that it must remain as green space.
“We have lost many of our green areas to housing development due to Government planning laws.
“Housing development of this nature would have a hugely detrimental impact on the people of Kingsway Ward living nearby and also on people living across the whole of Widnes.”
It added: “We urge Widnes Golf Club and their members to please think of the local community that the club has been part of for nearly 100 years.
“We urge Widnes resident golf club members at their Emergency General Meeting to vote against the proposals by their committee to sell the land for housing development.
“We urge them to think of the wide ranging impact of their vote on their fellow Widnes residents and call on them as fellow Widnesians to stop the golf club’s attempts to sell this land for housing development.
“If they will not, we urge Halton Borough Council to do everything in their power to stop this green space land being turned into a housing development.”
A statement from the Highfield Road club said: “For a number of years the Golf Club has had concerns about its future and currently options are being considered to try to secure its long term sustainability.
“However, at this stage as there is no firm proposal in place, we would prefer not to make further comment.”