Friday, 4 April 2008

Basildon Golf Course --- A Plea to Preserve Parkland

"Despite its municipal status the course at Basildon Golf Club is a real test of character and nerve, and is kept in fantastic condition all through the year by the diligence and care of the excellent greenkeeping staff. Many public pay and play courses are typecast as poorly looked after "tattie fields" - not this one though. In fact, at the risk of sounding controversial, it could more than fairly be said that it is far better than some of it private members rivals.
It sprawls across 6276 yards of beautiful, rolling parkland and offers a championship standard par of 72, a good indication, you will no doubt agree, of the challenges that lie in wait."

So says the write up of the course in the authoritative guide to British courses on the web.

Which rather makes one wonder why Basildon Council has been so ready to permit the course to become a dump for builder's spoil under the guise of having it remodelled.

Since an already good course doesn't need radical alteration, local residents don't want the upheaval and the town does not need yet another source of potential pollution, why on earth is this being allowed to happen?

It may be that this 'improvement' could become the blueprint for further Council initiatives. After all, Gloucester Park could accommodate an enormous quantity of waste. Assume 200,000 lorry loads at £100 income per load and the Council could secure a windfall as well as raising the ground level several feet and perhaps even creating a local ski slope. And look at all the space at Crown Heights ---

Basildon should be a fine place. Let it not become the plug-hole of the Thames Basin; the place where all the rubbish ends up. If you feel strongly about this, then tell your local councillors, they may listen.

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