Driving range plans given the green light

Photo: Jan Harwood

The Friends of Springfield Park group with Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Andy Burnham and Rochdale's Labour Parliamentary candidate Simon Danczuk.

The proposed driving range for Springfield Park was given the green light at a council cabinet meeting last night (Monday 15 December), and the proposals will now go to the townships for consultation.

One member of the cabinet, Councillor Wera Hobhouse, spoke out strongly against the proposed development on playing fields at the park, but their was no other opposition from the Lib Dem cabinet.

Councillor Hobhouse said: "As portfolio holder for the Environment I do not support the decision by the Cabinet to allocate funds in next year’s budget for a golf driving range on public open space in Springfield Park.

"As portfolio holder I am committed to improving our parks and Open Spaces."

Councillor Hobhouse said that if the development went through it would end any hopes that Springfield Park has of gaining Green Flag status. "Ever since it became known that Link4life was planning to build a Golf Driving Range over the old football pitches a strong opposition was voiced from the local people and the ‘Friends’ group," she said.

"If we want to achieve Green Flag status the Council has to demonstrate how it consults and works together with the local community. The way the Council is about to demoralise local people by going explicitly against their wishes would in my eyes completely destroy any ambition to achieve Green Flag Status for Springfield Park.

"For me as Elected Member it is fundamentally wrong to make a financial commitment for a project that hasn’t been properly argued in financial terms or has been demonstrated to benefit the community, especially when local people are so totally against the project."

Rochdale's Labour Parliamentary Candidate Simon Danczuk has called on MP Paul Rowen to step in and keep the playing fields open for public use. “We should not be giving away our children’s future to commercial operators who will fence off this green space for the benefit of a few golfers," he said.

"I am pleased that Councillor Hobhouse recognises this, but why are her colleagues being so bloody minded in riding roughshod over an overwhelming public interest to keep this park open for public use? I hope our MP will now intervene and urge his colleagues to come to their senses.”

Paul Rowen has responded by officially objecting to the proposals and has written to Council leader Councillor Alan Taylor voicing his opinion. “The cost of this is excessive and will take over a decade to pay back and rob us of much valued park land. The Council failed with the driving range at Bowlee and there is no appetite for this. It is a waste of money and I feel that it shouldn’t go ahead when there are much higher priorities.

“I would also question the need and indeed competitiveness of such a facility. Does Rochdale really need another driving range? The cost of £300,000 is unduly expensive and this figure will no doubt rise significantly, as is often the case with capital projects such as these. According to the Council’s figures, the annual profit will be £30,000 meaning that it will be a minimum of 10 years before we make any money. The Council cannot guarantee this figure though, and it’s likely to make a huge loss. 

"The fact is that the new leisure centre is two years behind schedule and this is what people want – not a driving range which will benefit few people. 

"Finally, there will be a significant loss of much valued land from the park. This is madness and I can think of dozens of better ways to spend this money. I am calling for the Council to reconsider this barmy suggestion.”

Earlier this year the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Andy Burnham, met with the Friends of Springfield Park and told them that the plans to build a golf driving range would never have been given a second glance if they had been submitted in his Leigh constituency.

The Friends group have been campaigning against a controversial plan to convert an area of open public space at the Park into a driving range for Marland Golf Club. They believe that the land should be reserved for the impromptu games of football and cricket that local youngsters enjoy on the field and not made into an exclusive sporting facility for use by golfers.

Mr Burnham said: "The more I look at it the more I am amazed. I know that this would never get through in my borough. We really look to prioritise sport in my constituency. I was here in Rochdale three weeks ago and I have got to say that it seems to me that this borough really de-prioritises sport."