Operation of Marland Golf Course in question

Marland Golf Course, Springfield Park

A consultation for proposals to explore 'alternative options' for the operation of Marland Golf Course has been announced.

Marland Golf Course has been operated by Link4Life since 2007. The course itself and the various buildings belong to Rochdale Borough Council, however Link4Life, has a lease to operate them until 2022.

Andy King, Link4Life Chief Executive,said: “Marland Golf Course provides us with a number of key challenges. Whilst the course itself is of a good quality, the ancillary facilities are of an insufficient standard to provide the quality of offer for our customers that we would expect. This, alongside a national trend of decreasing membership numbers in golf, has resulted in a gradual decline in Marland Golf Course members, poor financial performance and a reduction in long term sustainability for a number of years.

"We have considered carefully the opportunities to invest in improvement of the physical assets at the site, for example the building infrastructure, and recognise that significant capital investment would be required to bring facilities up to par.

"After careful consideration, we have come to the conclusion that it is no longer viable for Link4Life, as a charity, to be the sole operator of Marland Golf Course beyond April 2019. We are launching this consultation to hear your views and explore alternative options, including working with other providers, for the operation of Marland Golf Course.”

To comment on the proposals email:

admin@link4life.org

To register an interest in attending a consultation meeting, visit:

www.link4life.org/marlandgolfcourseconsultation