Shrewsbury pitch & putt site sold to developers

Shropshire Council put the popular 3.95 acre site at Meole Brace up for sale in 2017 and marketed it aimed at hotel, fast food or health developers.

Councillors had controversially decided behind closed doors to sell off the site and the sale is being handled by Birmingham based agents Colliers International.

Under an agreement £50,000 raised from its sale will go to the neighbouring Meole Brace Golf Course.

In the months after the announcement of the proposed sale, The Friends of Meole Brace Golf Course submitted a letter to Shropshire Council expressing an interest in the pitch & putt as part of its rights under the site’s registration as an “asset of community value”.

The council decided to sell the pitch & putt to developers, but because the site was registered as an asset of community value by FMBGC, the organisation had to be offered the opportunity to buy the land.

In a statement, council spokesman Gareth Proffitt said: “I can confirm that the site has been sold, subject to contract, but we can’t say anything more at this stage.”

Shropshire Council consulted on the future of the pitch & putt in 2016, stating that its preferred option was to sell the site.

At the time a report from Tim Smith, the council’s head of business enterprise and commercial services, said that the number of people using the pitch & putt had fallen in recent years.

It stated: “The overall usage of the facility is down by 1,000 visits in the last four years, from a peak of 2,590 in 2011.

"The area of the course is well located being adjacent to the inner ring road and the Meole Brace roundabout.”

Meole Brace Golf Course is not affected by the sale and will continue to open as normal.