Plans for an exclusive golf course and luxury hotel "have been given the final go-ahead" by the Valley District Council, according to THISISSURREYTODAY.co.uk. In May, councilors "granted permission for Longshot's proposal to build a 40- to 48-bedroom hotel and members-only golf course at the Cherkley Court estate near Leatherhead." The council "issued a decision notice paving the way for work to start." The permission is "dependent on almost 60 conditions, including a requirement for Longshot to provide a £240,000 ($388,000) bond" to reinstate the golf course to meadowland should the development fail within five years. The proposals were fiercely opposed by some local residents and conservation groups, and the Campaign to Protect Rural England's (CPRE) Surrey branch "has vowed to keep fighting." CPRE Dir Andy Smith said, "We believe the council's decision-making process was flawed and the decision is seriously compromised -- we will be seeking to prove this and to push the council back to the drawing board" (THISISSURREYTODAY.co.uk, 9/27).
OTHER GREENS: GOLF COURSE ARCHITECTURE reported the planned golf and housing development on the Ury Estate at Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, "may be back on the table."
Farmer John Forbes bought the estate earlier this year for a sum believed to be in the region of £5M ($8.1M), after the former owner, FM Developments, which had planned to build the golf estate, "went into liquidation." Forbes was a shareholder of FM, and said he planned to farm the land for the moment. Jack Nicklaus' firm had been down to "design the golf course." New planning applications for the site have been filed with Aberdeenshire (GOLFCOURSEARCHITECTURE.net, 9/26). GOLF COURSE ARCHITECTURE also reported plans have been announced for a new "upmarket golf resort close to the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in north-west England." Wirral Council, which owns much of the land to the east of the Royal Liverpool course -- which will once again host the Open Championship in '14 -- "is looking for a commercial partner to develop the resort on a 333-acre site behind the Hoylake municipal course" (GOLFCOURSEARCHITECTURE.net, 9/26).
