Author: Sal
Ventnor Golf Club Present Development Plans to Town Council
Monday, 31st March, 2008 at 6:30 pm, Isle of Wight
Stewart Blackmore of the Ventnor Golf Club will be attending the Ventnor Town Council meeting this evening to present the new plans for development at Ventnor Golf Course. The club have kindly forwarded the press release below, which has all details of the development. Ed
Outline Project Scope
An exciting outline project proposal to extend the course to 18 holes, build a new clubhouse, luxury golf holiday units and to become one of the first truly carbon neutral golf clubs in the UK.
Key Project Aims - To modernise and make into a major attraction by:
* Build a new 18 hole golf course to county standard with the potential to host regional competitions.
* Build a new modern carbon neutral club house, training facility and banqueting suite, which will also be made available for use by the community and for external functions.
* Increase membership, encourage golf events, golf societies and casual members.
* To provide 15 luxury 4 bed pine lodges
* To ensure both environmental and financial sustainability
* Encourage greater community awareness and participation
* Contribute to local economy with the provision of new jobs, tourism opportunities.
* To achieve environmental and financial sustainability.
* Use the environment to become one of the first carbon neutral golf clubs in the UK.
Introduction
Ventnor is located 5km south of Shanklin, Ventnor is primarily a residential area made up of around 7,000 residents. The town is built on a series of step terraces beneath St. Boniface Down that lead down to the seafront.
Ventnor Golf Club is currently looking at expansion and sustainability issues. This includes reduction of its carbon footprint and the potential to become one of the first truly carbon neutral golf clubs in the UK.
Established in 1892, Ventnor Golf Club is the oldest golf club on the Isle of Wight. Ventnor Golf Club is located on Rew Down on the western side of Ventnor, on a south-facing slope above the Whitwell Road. It can be reached from Steephill Down road, Whitwell Road or Stenbury Trail.
The club currently has 12 holes and approximately 200 members.
According to the Indices of Deprivation, Ventnor ranks as the fourth most deprived ward on the Island within the top 25% most deprived nationally.
Proposal
New course
Build a new 18 hole County standard golf course, utilising the existing course and extending on to adjacent farm land.
Club house
The existing club house would be demolished and a new two level facility will be built. This will provide a much needed and long overdue modern facility. The club will ensure that access and facilities are suitable for disabled golfers. We will create a pro shop and new training facilities to enhance recruitment of new members with a particular bias towards juniors.
Restaurant
The club house restaurant will feature a first class restaurant offering excellent levels of food and service, with the finest views anywhere on the Island or, indeed, the South Coast. Island produce will be used as much as possible. The club house can be used for meetings and small seminars.
Membership
The club will increase our senior and junior membership base. We will encourage society golf and casual membership.
Holiday units
The project would entail the building of 15 eco friendly luxury units with 4 beds in each. The units would be built on land between the cemetery and golf fairway east of the golf club and which was previously used by the old Urban District Council and South Wight Borough Council. The existing road will be re-laid and the car park resurfaced. The units will be built on terracing. The units are constructed at the factory and are prefabricated onto concrete bases, minimising construction work and heavy traffic.
Tourism
Ventnor golf club will develop golf society events, and golfing holidays. This will utilise the holiday units and the new 18 hole county standard course.
Employment
New jobs will be created throughout the club, employing local skills as much as possible.
Energy Management
We will be including in the design the latest eco friendly technology and use the latest energy saving techniques. These include solar and wind technology and modern waste management systems. We will ensure that the club house and holiday units are sympathetic in character with the environs.
Environmental and Financial Sustainability
We will make the most of the superb wind speed and topography and install 3 small 30 metre wind turbines with small footprint, quick build and low visual impact. This will provide green energy for the golf club and allow the export of green energy to service approximately 600 houses1. By using this green strategy we derive an income from the exported green energy and will make carbon savings in excess of 1,000 tonnes per year.
Education
Education and hands on teaching aids will be available for local schools wishing to visit the golf club. This will take two forms, golf tuition and exploring environmental issues and concerns.
Outline Project Scoping
In order to build the project as efficiently as possible, over the last six months we have been consulting with the Isle of Wight County Council, Ventnor Town Council and various local government stakeholders. We have designed the outline project scope to embrace the current environmental and energy management recommendations. The project will be carried out in the most appropriate manner and retain Ventnor’s unique island character.
Stewart Blackmore Ventnor Golf Club Manager said …
This is a very exciting time for golf on the Isle of Wight. We aim to be one of the best golf clubs on the south coast. We believe that the project will not only take Ventnor Golf Club into the 21st century, but it will also provide Ventnor and the Isle of Wight with a much needed major attraction. This project has been planned to fully support the Eco Island vision, providing employment, tourism, education, sustainability both environmental and financial. We believe that we can become one of the first truly carbon neutral golf clubs in the UK.”
This proposal will be taken to the members at a EGM in the next few weeks and if we get the green light then we will start the consultation and planning process……..If thing go according to plan hopefully we will be starting work latter this year.
References: 1. Based on UK average house consumption of 4,000 kW per annum
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March 31st, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Will any of the ‘holiday units’ be wheelchair friendly, internally and externally?
March 31st, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Before we all get carried away with euphoria, remember that the proposal is for 60 holiday beds, with all the chalets on concrete footings causing runoff below, situated in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty outside development boundaries and generating large amounts of traffic behind quiet residential areas and on unstable land. We would need to know whether they are selling them off outright or as timeshares, so that they get upfront cash, or whether it would all be kept under one ownership and control. If you can cover the downs with chalets here, then nowhere is safe from chalet blight.
March 31st, 2008 at 11:41 pm
In response to ‘watchdog’ I would say that (s)he should refer to our outline plans on the VGC website:
The development is certainly situated in an area designated AONB but is also in a Brownfield site which was previously used by SWBC as a yard. As a matter of FACT the area is not unstable and will not generate additional excess traffic; indeed our Business Plan includes encouraging holidaying golfers to leave their cars on he mainland and be picked up by our eco-friendly people carriers to be transported to the golf club.
There is absolutely no question of a timeshare element; dare I say, with respect, this is a comment borne from ignorance of the scheme and lack of research - of such things are rumours tuened into ‘fact’.
The management of the chalets will be absolutely vested in the golf club and the chalets are for the exclusive use of golfing holidays and will NOT be sold off.
The spinoff to the town and community will be vast; local restaurants, pubs, shops and tourists attractions can only benefit.
March 31st, 2008 at 11:43 pm
Alan, the proposed development will, of course, be disabled friendly.
April 1st, 2008 at 7:12 am
This all sounds very good and, in principle, I wish them well but there are some suspicious statements. They describe a 30 metre (98.4 feet) wind turbine as ’small’ and they say that the club can be reached from the Whitwell Road, Stenbury Trail and along Steephill Down Road. Well it can on foot, but only Steephill Down Road offers vehicular access and this becomes single track as it crosses the downs where there is a meadow designated as an SSSI. Steephill Down Road is already showing many signs of subsidence and the volume of traffic will require a new layout with the junction at Newport Road which is already a very dangerous corner. I would also suggest golfer calming ramps on the new road because they drive up there as if they are late for a court appearance. So let’s be a bit more real about the implications of this: there’s good and not so good.
April 1st, 2008 at 7:49 am
Why do people get so upset by the mention of Wind Turbines when they’ve been around for hundreds of years in one form or another, take a look at Bembridge Windmill.
April 1st, 2008 at 9:45 am
Steephill Jack, let me reassure you as to the criteria for small wind turbines (as ours will be):
Definition of a small wind scheme is a sub 1 MW installation as defined by the Institute of electronic and electrical engineers IEEE.
The turbines are 250 kilowatts (kW) as against the industry standard 2 megawatt (MW) turbines that where planned for Wellow. This is around 12% of the output. The turbines are proportional to the site, environmental management strategies and the business needs.
With regard to Steephill Road, it is not a subsidence risk (you may be thinking of Newport Road) and is the responsibility of IWCC in terms of its state of repair. Your observation that golfers, per se, treat the road as a race track (I paraphrase) does not bear scrutiny; the road is used far more by local residents and customers of the chip shop. In addition many golf courses, for example in the proximity of the New Forest, can only be reached by single track roads without detriment. One of the busiest golf courses in the South of England , Bramshaw, is in the New Forest National Park and can only be reached by a single track road - it has over 800 members!
Thank you, Jack, for your good wishes and I hope that contributers to the Blog will continue to offer constructive comments about the proposal. Don’t forget - the golf course has been here since 1892 and we hope that, by securing its future, it will be here in the next century!
April 1st, 2008 at 4:38 pm
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