| Shirenewton Community Council
held a local public meeting at Shirenewton Recreation
Hall on Tuesday 7th September. At the meeting a number of points
were raised:
- The
Golf Course was not economical to run. However, it was
noted that the current owners had recently purchased
the Golf Club in the full knowledge of its finances.
Additionally a member of the Golf club put forward the
view that the club was being "appallingly run"
mentioning "rude" letters received by the
membership. It was stated that the club membership has
fallen from circa 200 to 'about 80' under the new ownership.
- A
representative of the development company stated quite
clearly and repeatedly that the company had "no
plans" for the golf course other than those put
forward. It was felt that this is clearly unacceptable
and even unbelievable. The general feeling of the meeting
was that it was impossible to consider the application
in isolation without considering the golf course and
surrounding land which are owned by the development
company.
- It
was noted that there is nothing in the proposed plans
which provides for a golf club house. It was further
noted that no application to build a new club house
on open countryside was ever likely to be acceptable
to the planning authorities. Without a club house and
other associated facilities the golf course is not viable
and therefore the inevitable conclusion is that the
golf course will cease to exist if the plans are approved.
- A
representative of Mathern Community Council explained
that the sewerage system in the Shirenewton & Mathern
area was operating at or beyond its designed limit and
the responsible authorities had requested no new development
until the sewerage system had been upgraded.
- It
was noted that the plans proposed a new access onto
an extremely narrow lane and potentially dangerous lane.
It was further noted that it was a condition of the
original golf course planning consent that a new access
away form the narrow and unsafe lane be created for
the traffic. The representative of the development company stated quite
clearly that it would be "uneconomic" for
the proposed houses to have to maintain the access to
the Crick Road and that was why the new access
was proposed. He further stated that the access
from the Crick Road would not be redundant (as indicated
by the drawings on display) because there was a need
to maintain access to the remaining land.
- It
was noted that the golf course and its surrounds have an abundance of
wildlife and is of sufficient importance to be considered of Special Scientific
Interest. The area is not currently designated as an SSI as there is no threat
to the environment so long as the Golf Course is maintained. Clearly, given
the lack of plans and consequent conclusions in respect
of the golf course a need to obtain formal SSI designation
may be necessary.
- It
was noted that the planning was outside the village
boundary and would entail a change of use from commerical
to residential. This, in itself, raised a strong objection.
Please note: the above is
not intended to be a full nor comprehensive 'minutes of meeting'.
It is purely a record of the points raised at the meeting which the author
believes are pertinent.
To register an objection to the plans please follow this link
or go back to the main
page.
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