Lewisham residents are in uproar after it was officially announced the 18-hole golf course will be closed.
The council rubber stamped the decision at a meeting last week (February 17) as part of the future plans for Beckenham Place Park.
The 98 hectare park, off Beckenham Hill Road, is undergoing a revamp funded by a £4.9 million Heritage Lottery Funding.
The council successfully applied for the cash in 2014, subject to a detailed Stage 2 bid the council is now proceeding with – which involves scrapping 36 hectare golf course.
MORE TOP STORIES Campaign group Save the Beckenham 18 expressed their dismay over the decision to scrap the 108-year-old course.
Elaine Storey, spokeswoman for the group, told News Shopper: “I’ve lived in Beckenham all my life and I’ve been in that park all my life, I learned to play golf there.
“If they had done a proper consultation, if they asked 5,000 people and they suggested they wanted the golf course to shut I’d accept it, but this has been based on 62 people, it’s so flawed.
“That’s what made me so angry, they haven’t done a proper consultation. We had a petition of 6,000 protesting it; they had 900 letters of complaint.
“The lack of democratic process, that’s what’s made me get involved.
“We’re not going to give up.”
But a council spokesman defended the decision, saying: “Lewisham Council doesn’t have the power to arrest the national trend of declining use of golf courses.
“We have tried over a long period to make golf work within this park and we have offered the course to the market on more than one occasion without success.
“Beckenham Place Park desperately needs investment in its listed buildings and other facilities.”
Golfers gather to try and save it
They also pointed towards their four listed buildings – the Grade II* mansion and Grade II listed homesteads and gatehouses – which all need considerable investment.
The council will be embarking on a public consultation phase over the next two months, before designs are revealed in summer ahead of the Stage 2 bid submission in August.
To find out more about the plans visit: www.lewisham.gov.uk/beckenham-place-park/
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