A local authority’s plan to close down a golf course in Leicestershire and convert it into 800 houses has received strong local opposition.
The plan would see Enderby Golf Course redeveloped into a new ‘mini-village’ including public open space, play areas, community facilities and parkland by Blaby District Council.
However, LeicestershireLive spoke to local people and found overwhelming opposition to the proposal. Many do not want to lose the green space and there were concerns about local population growth.
One resident living near the course said: “We don’t want it. It’s a truly great, sociable and affordable course. It would be a shame to see it go away as it’s a main attraction that brings people to this area.”
Another, David Alexander, said: “It’s not going to work very well if it goes forward is it? This road is too busy as it is.
“It’s already hard to get out of the driveway in the morning here with the school and the gym in the area. It’s really bad, so will only get worse.”
Helen Akiens said: “If every house has two cars they’ll see potentially 1,600 cars added to the area and it’s already a nightmare trying to get onto the M1. If you’re trying to get onto the M1 on a Friday these days, just forget about it.”
She also highlighted the issues of overloading local services. “We signed a petition stating that we are not happy with the plans and it’s mainly because of the infrastructure issues. You can hardly get an appointment at the doctor or the dentist here, so what will happen when you have another 800 homes accessing the services?
“You start to worry about your house value, because one of the reasons we bought this place is because of the nice view out back and what will happen if all of it goes away? If we look to sell our property in the next few years, people might also think well why shouldn’t we just take one of the new builds instead.”
Gemma Galleher said: “Our main fear is drainage in the area and I don’t think people are considering it.
“It happened once in February when the water was only a couple of inches off entering our house. So if they take away more of the greenery, I think it would just end up creating more issues with our drainage.”
One of Gemma’s neighbours said they moved to the area in order to get away from the busy city life and the creation of 800 homes would detract from that.
They said: “You move to a village to be part of a smaller community and you leave the city for that reason so this is just really sad if it goes through. We’re seeing less and less greenery around here now and more concrete, which is terrible because people walk their dogs, exercise and use the golf course as a place to get away for a bit. It’s really great to have.”
The local parent also said if these plans are approved, it could open the door to further housing plans in the area.
“Who knows, if these houses go through then there might be another plan to build a further 600 houses just nearby. It’s really not what you want.”
According to the council, the local plan is expected to be approved in late 2025 and would then be adopted by the council in March 2026.
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