Stockwood Park Golf Centre has been saved from closure after Luton Council admitted that a consultation had shown the 27-hole course and park ‘are clearly valued by a large number of people’.
In February, the authority unveiled proposals to close the centre despite a nationwide rise in memberships, in order to cut costs as a result of the Luton Airport passenger numbers collapsing, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
But there was public outcry over the proposal with an online petition launched to save the golf club, urging people ‘Do not let the council or active Luton close it down!!’
Petition organiser Sarah Jolley wrote: “Golf is one of the only sports that has been open and can be played socially distanced during Covid-19 except during lockdowns. Stockwood Park Golf Centre is a gem in our town, it caters for all ages and is an affordable golf centre.”
To date, that survey has attracted 9,471 signatures, while research by GolfNow also showed that more than 80 per cent of clubs had seen an increase in membership revenue last year, despite the pandemic.
Paul Hulme, golf club captain at Stockwood Park, last month told The Golf Business: “Stockwood’s golf bookings were stable at around 30,000 rounds in 2018 and 2019. This is higher than the average UK golf course. Bookings increased to around 40,000 rounds in 2020, even with two months of closure due to Covid.
“These figures demonstrate that use the Golf Centre is actually growing. The golf centre generated substantial income in 2020, there is no good reason it cannot be operated at zero cost to the local taxpayer.”
However, in a statement today, the council wrote: ‘We have had a huge response with a wide range of passionate views put forward.’
The have instead opted to ‘undertake a long-term master planning exercise’ to explore how to ‘best use the whole of the park for the benefit of the wider community’.
The council also took the opportunity explain, ‘for the avoidance of doubt, there have never been any plans to build houses or an other similar development on the park. Our key probity is about ensuring that we maximise the recreational benefits of the park for the whole community. A full report on the outcome of the consultation will be published shortly’.
