Shrewsbury pitch & putt course should make way for hotel, councillor claims

The suggestion over the future of Meole Brace Pitch & Putt in Shrewsbury comes as concerns have been raised over the loss of facilities to encourage young people to take up golf.

It has also been suggested that the the pitch & putt's status as a community asset could delay any potential sale.

Shrewsbury town and Shropshire Councillor Peter Nutting said: "The pitch & putt is rarely used these days and it makes sense for the council to ensure the income viability of the rest of the golf course by selling the pitch & putt and putting the money to good use financing other schemes.

"The golf course I am assured is completely safe and will I think eventually be run by Shrewsbury Town Council which handles the maintenance there currently.

"It would be nice to have a good quality hotel there on the site which would be a great improvement for the town."

Councillor Jon Tandy, who represents the area and has previously campaigned to protect the Meole Brace Golf Course, and the pitch & putt, said that he expected an objection over the loss of facilities for young people.

He said: "A few years ago we had a public meeting about the site and now it is under the community asset register and as such the land should be first of all offered to the committee before it is put on the open market.

"Because it is on the asset register the group and committee needs to be given the opportunity to buy it.

"I have spoken to the Friends of Meole Brace Golf Club and they do not want to lose the option to get young people involved in the sport. They do not want to lose it at all. They will be putting in an objection to it being sold.

"I feel it is something that as a council we should be looking to sell because of the dire financial straits we are in but at the same time I would like to see the town council given and opportunity to take the pitch & putt on to work with local schools and see if they can make a success of it."

The pitch & putt is owned by Shropshire Council which is currently conducting a consultation on the future of the site, having acknowledged that it would like to sell the facility.

Councillor Alan Mosley, leader of Shrewsbury Town Council said that while a hotel could be a potential use for the land, there would need to need for replacement leisure space to be set aside if the sale is given the green light.

He said: "It is a valuable piece of real estate that appears to be under-used in its present purpose.

"I will be very interested to see the results of the consultation.

"There have been suggestions about a hotel going there or some similar other functions but I do think we need to take peoples views about the loss of recreation land and how it might be replaced elsewhere into account."