It has been confirmed by Bidwells, agents for the landowners of the Bedford Golf Club course, that when the lease expires on October 16, 2020, the golf course will close.
Bidwells further outlined the plans for the facility going forward.
The Greenkeepers compound on Greenkeepers Road will be let out for business use.
The club house is to be let out – perhaps for a school or some such facility.
The land will be given over to livestock grazing or and hay production.
The land will not immediately be put forward for residential development but has that potential in years to come. (number of years unspecified)
A campaign led by Cllr Jim Weir, Beds Borough Councillor for Kempston Rural, has been organised to save the course and the club.
Cllr Weir has made a number of contacts with the Mayor, the MP, the relevant Parish Councils and other interested parties in an effort to galvanise support.
The club was opened in 1999 as part of a Section 106 agreement between the landowners and Bedford Borough Council as a requirement to build the first phase of a housing development.
That development is now the vibrant and diverse community of Great Denham.
The golf course provides a large urban green space that both residents of Great Denham and Biddenham enjoy.
The land also acts as a buffer between the two communities and avoids what would otherwise be an urban sprawl.
Part of the requirement of the Section 106 agreement was that the golf club had to be inclusive and anyone could pay and play seven days per week.
The club house has been a welcoming meeting place for residents to drink and dine as families from the first day it opened in April 1999.
It has been in constant use as a venue to celebrate special occasions, a place to meet members and good friends and a venue to host community led events.
Cllr Weir has organised an online petition to ‘Save The Bedford Golf Club’.