A £60,000 package to improve the town’s golf course has been announced – just months after plans to put 300 homes on the site were put forward.
Work has already been carried out on the fairways this year and £50,000 has been allocated by Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council’s cabinet for further work this year.
A working party made up of golfers and borough councillors set up to investigate the viability of the course at Meole Brace concluded the current course should be preserved.
The marketing group established to promote the venue has also been given £10,000 – part of which will be used to market the Quarry swimming pool – to spend on attracting users, old and new, to the golf course.
Idea
One idea being investigated is a junior coaching initiative, with the Golf Foundation – a national golfing body – helping to further links between the course and local schools.
Group members have claimed the cash injection has secured the short-term future of the golf course and are positive about attracting new users to the venue.
Plans for 300 homes to be built on the site were mooted in September last year after a housing land assessment was carried out by Bristol town planning consultants Baker Associates.
Councillor David Farmer, chairman of the marketing group, said: “Plans to build on the course are scrapped for now. We want to spend money at the course to attract users along.
“Hopefully, there will be people going into the schools to teach pupils and then later on in the year they will come down to the course for more tuition.”
Mike Cox, the outdoor recreation and development manager at Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council, said schools in the area had been approached to try and develop community links with the golf course.
“We were very pleased and surprised to find out the demand for golf in schools is quite high.
“The Golf Foundation has come back to say they are delighted with what we have organised and they will help with a six-week session we’ve lined up.
“We’re hoping, if it’s successful, to look at taking it into schools ourselves.”
Glyn Roberts, SABC technical services manager, confirmed that the £50,000 had been approved by cabinet as a ‘priority project’ following the sale of other council assets.
Councillor Charles Armstrong, portfolio holder for sport and leisure, said: “We are always looking to improve facilities and the participation levels.
“We recognise there’s a strong need for municipal golf in the area.”