Concerns have been raised about South Ayrshire Council’s approach to its golf courses as part of a review of its wider estate.
The council’s cabinet were presented with a report on the transformation of its estate, which included a recommendation that golf courses only be retained if they meet specific objectives.
The report recommended that commercial ‘opportunities and partnerships’ be investigated in relation to golf in South Ayrshire.
SAC owns eight golf courses at Belleisle, Dalmilling, Maybole, Girvan and Troon.
This approach comes amid a move to dramatically reduce the size of the council’s property portfolio, including halving its office space and ensuring properties are for specific, and where possible multiple, purposes.
Carrick Councillor Alec Clark said: “We don’t mind streamlining, but we don’t want annihilation. One thing that slightly annoyed me was under golf assets, where it said assets would be retained only if they achieve explicit objectives, whatever those might be.
“Statements like that, if the public pick them up, can make them slightly concerned. We need to be careful how we put the message out.”
Councillor Bob Pollock agreed and said that there is significant value to golf in South Ayrshire when it comes to ‘social benefits’ and tackling the likes of diabetes and mental health.
He added: “In terms of South Ayrshire, I think it is [worth] an estimated £17m in trade. So I support the point that we need to be careful about the message we are putting out there.
Consultants Avison Young carried out preliminary work on the SAC estate last year, providing a foundation for the ongoing development of the strategy.
Key recommendations included:
- Reduction of office space by 50 percent
- Multi-service community hubs
- Common Good Review
- Commercialise key golf assets
- Challenge retention of ‘non-essential assets’
- Critical review of assets that do not support a statutory duty,
- accelerate asset transfers and disposal of surplus property.
Future work will be split into three phases. Phase one involved developing a plan to deliver short term ‘efficiencies’ while laying out a direction of travel for the longer term.
There will be more a more detailed review of the elements laid out in that earlier report, with input from ward councillors.
Community Asset Transfers will be supported were it ‘makes sense both financially and operationally’. The report indicates that the transfer process would be aligned to the Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) and Community Empowerment.
Phase one would feature support for ‘feasibility studies, condition surveys and where appropriate the development of business plans in support of community regeneration activity aligned with the CAT process.
Phase two would see the implementation of work to ‘consolidate the estate’, along with a pilot of the first three asset reviews to estimate the level of resources required.
Phase three would see a programme of ‘investment, spend to save and commercialisation’ of the estate. The work, said the report, could start to deliver tangible benefits in around five years.
Read next:
- Hugh Grant stuns diners at Ayrshire restaurant after arriving in town
- New parking restrictions at Ayrshire retail park with £100 fine warning issued
- Ayrshire takeaways in 'sad copycat' war of words over logo and brand colours
- Retired Ayrshire teacher sheds six stone after 'challenging herself'
- 'Horrendous' Ayr High Street flats plan approved as local makes 'torture' comparison
Don't miss the latest Ayrshire headlines – sign up to our free daily newsletter
