Members of a golf club that is set to be concreted over so thousands of homes can be built are battling to save their club.
Horsham District Council has said it wants to build at least 3,000 homes on Ifield Golf Club, and Homes England has said the golf course is surplus to requirements and other golf facilities in the area are able to cope with any future demand.
However, Denis Taylor, a member of Ifield Golf Club for more than 50 years, said there was a danger of people being ‘hoodwinked’ by the evidence pack for the council’s plan, and that the fees charged by neighbouring venues were far higher than Ifield’s. He added that many users of Ifield GC live locally to the venue and if they play at other clubs it will increase their carbon footprint.
He said the strategic policy was ‘not clearly written and unambiguous.’
He said: “Ifield should be retained because of its availability to a wide section of the community.”
He said the demand for golf in the area is increasing but other nearby golf clubs charged high fees which “would be out of reach by most Ifield members.”
“For these facilities to outweigh the loss of Ifield Golf course they would require a substantial import of visitors,” he added. “Getting them there goes against the philosophy of the new neighbourhood being self-contained with a 15 minute walking or cycling journey time.”
Ifield Golf Club, he said, was currently easily accessible and was also the only golf club in the area which people could travel to by car, bicycle, foot, bus or train.
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