Campaigners battling to prevent houses from being built on the site of a now-derelict golf club in Salford have vowed "we will never give up". The 100-acre land which was once Swinton Park Golf Club has been bought by developer Wain Estates for £3 million.
But the Save Swinton Park Golf Club group (SSP), backed by two local MPs and Salford Mayor Paul Dennett, are steadfastly opposed to any housing development and want the site enshrined as an "asset of community value". A public meeting organised by the group recently was attended by more than 100 people and addressed by Mr Dennett.
The ultimate goal is to reinstate the golf club - dating back to the General Strike of 1926 - with SSP dismissing claims by former shareholders that it was unviable. Dave Marsh from the group said: "We will do all we can to help the residents to stop any building on the course and work with Salford council to that end.
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"If Wain Estates realise that they are not going to be able to build on it for donkey's years, they might sell it back to us for the price they bought it." The former clubhouse is currently boarded up with barbed wire preventing access to the roof, while the course, which stretches from the A580 East Lancs Road all the way to Monton has become unkempt and overgrown.
"Our ultimate aim is to re-establish it as a golf club. A study has shown, if run properly, it could turn over £1.3 million a year." And Mr Marsh referenced what became known as "The Battle of Broadoak" where property giant Peel was prevented from building on land at the Worsley beauty spot.
"Peel did everything they could over a seven-year period to build there, but they couldn't in the end," said Mr Marsh. "I'm 72 years old and I fully expect to be dead and buried before anything is built on Swinton Park Golf Club, if at all."
Wain Estates' publicly accessible company accounts show they paid £3.043 million for the golf club, but directors recalculated its value on October 2020 at £2.161 million following a "comprehensive review of the assets and liabilities of the club". Meanwhile, a call by Rebecca Long-Bailey, MP for Salford and Eccles, Barbara Keeley, the representative for Worsley and Eccles South, and Mr Dennett for the deal to be investigated by the Serious Fraud Office has come to nothing.
Previously, Mr Dennett has said the land "is not designated for residential use in the Local Plan [for Salford]". Wain Homes have declined to comment.
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