Shrewsbury’s Pitch & Putt course to be put up for sale
Shrewsbury’s Pitch & Putt course is to go up for sale next month (July 2017).
Owned by Shropshire Council, the 3.95 acres pitch and putt site sits beside the main golf course at Meole Brace.
The sale was formally approved at a meeting of the Shropshire Council’s Cabinet in March 2017, and ratified at a meeting of full Council last week (22 June 2017).
The site will now be marketed by property agents Colliers on behalf of Shropshire Council.
It’s expected to be of interest to hotels and leisure companies, drive-through food outlets, food and drink operators, or for extra-care housing and health facilities – or a mix of these.
In March, Cabinet agreed that up to £50,000 raised from the disposal of the site will be put towards improvements to Meole Brace Golf Course. It is envisaged that these improvements will be compensatory and involve the provision of additional practice facilities.
Now that the disposal has been approved, Shropshire Council will act in accordance with its obligations under the Localism Act relating to the Community Right to Bid process, and the Friends of Meole Brace Golf Club will now be asked if it wishes to make a bid for the pitch and putt course.
The Friends, or other qualifying community body, will have six weeks to confirm whether they wish to make a bid.
Colliers will invite proposals from operators and developers and – subject to the outcome of the community right to bid process – will report back to Shropshire Council towards the end of the year, when the successful bidder is due to be chosen.
Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member responsible for assets, said:
“The future of the pitch and putt site was reviewed last year after figures showed that usage of the facility had declined from a peak of 2,590 visits in 2011 to below 1,600 last year.
“The decision to sell the pitch and putt course was taken following a public consultation in late 2016, which looked at a number of possible options for the site. We also sought the views of key stakeholders including Sport England, relevant national associations, Shrewsbury Town Council, Bannatyne’s, local residents’ associations and the current course operator.
“The sale of the site will clearly generate a significant capital receipt for the council, which we will reinvest in the golf course and in our regeneration plans for Shropshire.”
The Pitch & Putt course will continue to operate as normal until building work begins on site.
Meole Brace Golf Course is not affected by these plans and will continue to open and operate as normal.
Further information
The pitch and putt course, identified as part of the main golf course, is a registered Asset of Community Value (ACV). This creates a requirement for Shropshire Council to give the opportunity for a community organisation to make a bid. Should this opportunity be taken up there would be a period of time when the council could not finalise a disposal to give the nominating organisation, Friends of Meole Brace Golf Club, or other qualifying community body, time to confirm whether they wish to make a bid and, subject to this, a further period to develop a bid.
