With over 3,000 people signing a recent petition* to stop the £30million sale of Swinton Park Golf Club to Bellway Homes, plus legal moves behind the scenes and a huge fundraising campaign that has brought thousands of pounds into a fighting kitty, campaigners were in buoyant mood at a packed public meeting last night in St Luke's Church Hall.
"We understand that Bellway Homes has put on ice its purchase of the golf club" David Marsh, on behalf of the campaign, told the audience "...We've arrested Bellway's enthusiasm.."
A sale could have been completed on 23rd July but in a reply sent to a resident from Bellway Homes, the company stated that the potential purchase had been put in 'abeyance' until matters within the golf club are resolved.
The issue at the golf club revolves around a group of people who invested £1.2million to 'save' the club but subsequently agreed to sell it to Bellway for £30million, depending on planning permission.**
While full details of the moves behind the scenes to re-establish two previous golf club companies in order to challenge the sale were not fully disclosed for legal reasons, the campaign, which has already raised £28,000 (and spent almost £12,000 on legal fees), needs a lot more funding if it is to proceed with a trial.
David Marsh stressed that the campaign was not primarily about golf as "golfers can go elsewhere"; it was about the destruction of one hundred acres of green space for around one thousand houses, with all the environmental impacts on pollution, traffic and wildlife that would occur.
Meanwhile, the meeting heard how golf club members had been banned for posting opinions on social media and after writing letters, while other opponents of the sale had been subject to financial threats.
"All we're trying to do is stop a wrong" said David Marsh "We need to keep the pressure on the shoulders of Salford Council, Bellway and the wider public..."
Carol Boyce, from the Saving Our Neighbourhood campaign, implored the campaign not to put all its eggs in one legal basket, and offered advice on environmental impact assessments and such, based on their own experience of fighting Bellway Homes through the planning system.
Former Councillor Paul Wilson, explained that the campaign is currently going through the process of getting the golf club listed as an Asset of Community Value, which would also make any potential sale harder, while Barry Woodling underlined the need to protest against Bellway Homes at the company's other sites.
The meeting ended with David Marsh again stressing that the campaign was not about golf but the damage such a sale would have, while it closed with everyone singing the revised version of Dirty Old Town... 'Swinton Park Golf, Not Dirty Old Town'...***
* To sign the Save Swinton Park Golf Club petition – click here
** For a full background see previous Salford Star articles – click here and click here and click here
*** See previous Salford Star article - Dirty Old Town Revised For Golf Club Campaign - click here
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