Meole Brace Golf Club sale could be back on cards

Councillor Malcolm Pate, leader of Shropshire Council, says that the authority is reviewing all of its capital assets to decide which are no longer needed.

The Shropshire Council-owned golf club, with a 12-hole parkland course, was the subject of a reported bid of more than £15 million back in 2010.

Councillor Pate said the authority is looking at a variety of ways to support its revenue budget, including selling off some of its assets, although he would not be drawn on specific sites.

He said: "We are looking at a lot of options to raise capital to support the revenue budget and there are several items that we are looking at that we may or may not consider selling."

Earlier this year Shrewsbury Town Council confirmed it was in discussions with the authority about taking on the management and possible funding of several services, including Meole Brace Golf Course.

However, Shrewsbury town councillor Peter Nutting said development of the main course would be too controversial.

He said: "I think the possibility of getting any planning permission on the golf course would be extremely unlikely.

"I would expect any planning application to subject of a storm of protests and be called in by Government.

"It would be a waste of money to pursue anything in that direction. There is the possibility of selling the pitch and putt part of the course which could be a pub or a hotel or something."

Councillor Pate said Shropshire Council's review of public buildings, which includes other public organisations such as the police and health services, is positive and could help generate money for the council to spend on increasing its revenue budget.