An urban golf course that a developer failed to convert into housing is to be sold as a golfing venue.
Ingol Golf Club, situated just three miles from Preston’s city centre, was shut down by its current owner, Northern Trust, in January 2010 after it had been put up for sale for £1.25 million in 2009 but received no offers. A spokesman for Northern Trust said at the time that the club was experiencing ‘significant financial losses’.
With a few days the company had applied for planning permission to convert the golf club into a housing estate featuring more than 550 properties.
However, due to strong opposition from local residents, Preston City Council, the Planning Inspectorate and the government all rejected the planning application and subsequent appeals, and concluded that a golf course in the area could be commercially viable.
Northern Trust has now seemingly given up on the club and Strutt & Parker has been instructed to sell the venue with either a short or long lease. No guide price has been given.
“The 18 hole, 6,254 yard course opened in 1981 and is laid out on 172 acres of undulating land with many mature trees and wooded areas, with some fairways running between housing areas,” said a spokesman.
“A two bedroom bungalow adjoins the purpose-built clubhouse which makes it ideal for an owner / operator or a manager, and this is a great opportunity for someone to re-brand and re-open the site.
“The property is offered at a premium for a long lease at a peppercorn rent or on a short-term lease at an annual rental.”
The venue also includes two squash courts. A former pay-and-play golfer there said the course needs investment due to drainage issues.
“Local residents have been united over this issue since the very first day. They wanted to see the golf course protected as open green space and retained as a valuable public amenity,” said a spokesman for the Ingol Golf Village Residents Association, which was formed two years ago.
“We never accepted for one moment Northern Trust’s assertion that the golf club was commercially non-viable.”
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