Ten reasons why Maidenhead Golf Club should stay

The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead (RBWM) wants to build over 2,000 new flats and houses on the 132 acres of green belt land leased by Maidenhead Golf Club. 

But many local people are against these plans to destroy this significant area of greenspace in our town centre.

At a time when urban communities across the globe are valuing their greenspace more than ever, here are 10 reasons why Maidenhead Golf Club should stay:

1. Green Lung – the golf club has leased this land for 125 years and ensured that it remains a vital green lung for our town, improving air quality and absorbing fine particulate matter from local roads.
2. Biodiversity – the golf course is rich in wildlife, including many protected and threatened species like bats, hedgehogs and red kites.  Britain is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world with one in seven species facing extinction¹, so we must protect remaining habitats.
3. Carbon capture – the golf course is home to thousands of mature trees, providing shade and absorbing carbon dioxide – vital tools for helping us to mitigate against the worst effects of climate change.
4. Water storage & flooding – according to our council’s own Climate Strategy², ‘the Thames Valley region is classed as seriously water stressed’. Will there be an adequate water supply for the growing number of Maidenhead residents? Also during times of heavy rainfall, the golf course soaks up large amounts of water. Our town centre will be more exposed to flood risk if this land is developed.
5. Over-development – our small market town is growing rapidly, with over 6,000 new homes already built or granted planning permission in our town since 2013.  There should be less development of any kind in our over-developed Thames Valley region.  House building and some economic activity should be moved away from the south east as part of the national levelling up policy, and brownfield sites should be the focus for development.
6. We’ve already lost greenspace – around a third of Braywick Park’s green space has been developed in the last five years and other pockets of greenspace across our town have been swallowed up by development.  It’s vital the golf club stays to protect the precious greenspace of the golf course, and ensure our town remains an attractive and healthy place to live.
7. Sustainable council income – Maidenhead Golf Club pays a substantial annual rent to RBWM for the land it occupies, providing an important income for the council to deliver public services.  Although the council expects to effectively sell the land for around many millions of pounds, this is a short term capital gain at the expense of the long term health of our community. Moreover, we understand RBWM proposes to spend in excess of £14million to buy the golf club out of their lease early. This is surely a poor use of public money.
8. Health & Wellbeing – as well as the green lung benefits the golf course provides for our whole town, the growing membership of the golf club enjoys the health and wellbeing benefits of the exercise and social contact they receive by being members of the club.
9. History – Maidenhead Golf Club opened on Sunday 12 December 1896 and has been an important part of our town’s community history ever since. W H Grenfell (later Lord Desborough) first leased the land to the club 13 August 1896.  In 1953 the mayor, Cllr T.A. Stuchberry bought the golf club land. The action was ‘To prevent this land falling into the hands of those less concerned about its future than local people’. The land was then offered to the council, who took the same view that this land was scheduled as open space, and that public ownership was the best way of ensuring that it remained an open space.
10. We don’t need any more homes – the number of new homes allocated to our borough is based on the Objectively Assessed Need (OAN) figures released in 2012.  But OAN assessments based on 2018 figures, reduced the need for our borough by half, down to 6,382³.  We’ve already got over 6,000 new homes, so we don’t need any more.  RBWM justifies this development by saying it will help neighbouring boroughs to meet their housing needs. They are prepared to sell off our precious greenspace, when there are plenty of brownfield sites available for housing instead.

References

1. State of Nature 2016 report https://www.rspb.org.uk/globalassets/downloads/documents/conservation-projects/state-of-nature/state-of-nature-uk-report-2016.pdf

2. ‘Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Environment and Climate Strategy 2020-2025’ https://www.rbwm.gov.uk/media/2288/download

3. Planning Inspector’s documents, 2018 Household Projections Letter July 2020 ID-15 https://www.rbwm.gov.uk/home/planning/planning-policy/emerging-plans-and-policies/draft-borough-local-plan/examination-local-plan/inspectors-documents