AROUND 2,900 letters have been submitted to the district council in opposition to proposals which could see Bromsgrove Golf Club bulldozed to make way for housing.
The correspondences were officially handed to the authority on Wednesday by the club’s men’s captain Lee Machin, club secretary Deryck Hall and members Greg Everton, Phil Painter and Brian Green.
They, and all the opposers, are urging councillors to reconsider the inclusion of the golf course in the housing strategy.
Around 500 objection emails have also been sent in as part of the consultation.
How it all began
Bromsgrove Golf Club was founded in 1992 and has grown into one of the busiest courses in the UK – it has 1,200 active members and 20,000 people play on the course each year.
The club also has one of the largest junior academies in the UK and offers golfing, social and community activities for people of all ages.
Among those are a number of days to help children with disabilities, such as down syndrome, ADHD and learning difficulties. They hold their Special Olympics event there.
Ex-servicemen and women who have left the armed forces because of injuries, physical disabilities or PTSD also attend for golf courses. They have three to four days’ tuition and training with professional golf coaches and then they play Bromsgrove Golf Club members on the last day.
The club also hosts the international Simpson Cup which is an annual Ryder Cup-styled tournament between teams of 13 injured servicemen and veterans from Great Britain and the USA.
‘Wave of support’
Mr Machin told the Standard Bromsgrove Golf Club had received an overwhelming wave of support from its members and local residents in opposition to proposals.
“We must ensure councillors voting in the next stage of consultation to take note of public opinion and remove this land from future development plans,” he said.
“They should be held accountable to reflect the wishes of the people they represent, not their own political agendas.”
The campaign to save Bromsgrove Golf Club is backed by town MP Bradley Thomas.
Have your say
The Bromsgrove Local Plan – Draft Development Strategy Consultation runs until Monday, October 20. So far more than 7,000 responses have been received by the district council.
The process began with a ‘call for sites’ where landowners submitted parcels of land they were happy to put forward for potential development.
The Local Plan will determine where and how 9,000 new homes, businesses and infrastructure will be developed across the district by 2043.
People can visit bromsgrove.gov.uk/BromsgrovePlan and their local libraries for more on the consultation and can have their say via the interactive consultation platform or via email or post.
