Residents living near North Worcestershire Golf Course who have seen my previous posts or who were at last week’s Longbridge Ward forum will know that I and others have been asking questions about the security of the site.
Although North Worcestershire Golf Club remains in existence as the owner of the golf course, it plans to close the site for golf in the Spring. This will be ahead of any decisions being made about by the Council about what the site can be used for in the future. All this has prompted concerns about the security of the site in the meantime. Bloor Homes have said they will shortly put in a planning application to redevelop the site for housing and for other uses. However, Birmingham’s current planning framework precludes building on the Golf Course site.
Along with local Councillors, I have just received a letter back from Bloor’s representatives responding to the issues we have raised around security issues. The relevant extract from the letter appears below. I think residents will agree with me that this still leaves a number of issues unanswered. I have therefore replied to Bloor’s representatives, emphasising the importance of the Club publishing contact details of whoever will be responsible for site security in the coming months, so that any concerns can be addressed quickly and effectively.
I thought residents would, however, appreciate this update in the meantime.
Here is the extract of the letter received today from from Bloor’s representatives:
“The course is surrounded with substantial metal security fencing at approx 2.4 metres in height. There are locked metal gates across the entrance from Frankley Beeches Road.
The main entrance off Hanging Lane will be provided with matching locked metal gates from the end of this month & only opened for various functions taking place in the clubhouse that had been pre-booked until the end of April.
The clubhouse will then be prepared for a public auction taking place on 10th May for the grass cutting equipment,course signage & various other moveable objects from both the course and the buildings, following which all ground floor & accessible first floor openings of Clubhouse will be securely boarded up. Any remaining outbuildings will be emptied and secured.
The club will notify the local police sargeant of these actions, add a contact phone number for emergency access on both sets of gates plus post an email address on their website for anyone who needs to contact them.
Other than the club, access will occasionally be required by the Mobile Phone mast company for maintenance and this is arranged in advance. They will be aware of these new arrangements.
We will encourage the club to organise the contact number as soon as possible and provide it to you once we can. We also understand there will be a dedicated point of contact from the club.
I hope this helps and if you need anything further from me please do let me know.
Likewise, if we have any further information relating to security measures we will let you know straight away.”
