Vandals have targeted a beloved Merseyside golf course which has been caught up in a spate of fires.
Brackenwood Golf Club, in Bebington, Wirral, was shut down on April 1, along with Hoylake Municipal, after Wirral Council withdrew its funding for the two courses. The move came in a bid to save £328,000 towards the £20m needed to address a major gap in the council's budget.
Following the closure, the site faced vandalism on a scale never seen before, with marker posts being pulled out and dragged into the pond. And now members of the club have taken to social media to blast 'idiots and vandals' responsible for starting a number of fires at Brackenwood over the last two months.
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On Saturday evening (July 16), fire crews were called out to deal with a blaze on the course, with a group of young people believed to be the perpetrators.
Keith Marsh, secretary of the men’s section at the club, told the ECHO : “It looked like teenagers who started it. They scarpered off when they saw people coming toward them. The fire brigade were in attendance and managed to put it out but its concerning for us because the grass is so dry and we want to make sure that no one gets hurt.
“There's an awful lot of people walking dogs on the course so we’re concerned about keeping people safe. We’ve had quite a few fires on and around the course since it closed which is something we worried would happen if no one was looking after it.”
Last month, work started on maintaining Brackenwood's greenspace, with local volunteers, backed by RM Estates and the Ian Woosnam group, cutting access paths for local residents, raking the course's bunkers and removing timber left over from the November storms.
Keith said: “The council walked away on April 1 so if we would have left it, it would have been almost inaccessible by now which was not what we wanted.
“Members are going on and patrolling the course and trying to do their best but its easy to start fires when no ones around. We’ve had quite a lot of litter around the course as well which, judging by the content, is likely to be from kids. We want kids to go on and use it for leisure and recreation."
The golf course was one of a number of sites across Merseyside to be caught up in a fire amid yesterday's extreme temperatures. Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service was called to Brackenwood shortly before 3.20pm. One fire engine attended and crews found an area of grass and gorse – approximately 100sqm –alight.
Firefighters used high pressure hose reel jets to extinguish the fire and left the scene at 3.54pm. While it is not yet known whether this fire was started deliberately, months of vandalism are starting to take their toll on Keith and other members at the club.
He said: “It’s really annoying. We try not to let it get to us but the vast majority of members are volunteering their time and taking time away from their families to keep a local amenity in order. At the moment, none of us can play golf on it but we’re doing it in the hope it will eventually come back and also for the local community to use.
“It’s just complete vandalism. Without the quick action of the fire service, the damage could have been an awful lot more. From our point of view, and I’m sure from their point of view, it’s frustrating that they're being called out to silly little fires on a golf course.
"There might not be any threat to life, but it might mean that they can’t go to a more serious shout which is something I don’t think whoever is starting these fires is appreciating."
The future of Brackenwood will be decided by councillors at a meeting in October. Both the Woosnam group and Love Golf MCR, have made expressions of interest and will have to submit a business plan by August 25.
Keith said: “The Woosnam group has been fantastic with us. They’ve provided machinery for us to use and have provided staff who are going up a couple of times a week to do additional work and they’re paying for it all. They’re already putting a big investment in the course even though all they have is an approval to have a business plan in.
“There’s no guarantee that the Woosnam group will get it but they're happy to invest just to save the golf course to make sure it doesn’t go to wrack and ruin and the community can still use it. The community are using it an awful lot which is exactly what we wanted because its so much more than just a golf course and has big community benefits beyond just people who play golf.”
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