Popular golf course set to be converted into graveyard

A short golf course popular with junior players is inching towards closure after plans to convert it into a graveyard were given the green light.

More than 400 residents have opposed proposals for Downshire Golf Club to lose some of its land for an expansion at the adjacent Easthampstead Park Crematorium and Cemetery.

But the authorities are keen to address a shortage of burial space in Berkshire and argued that there was “no alternative” but to remove the course’s popular pitch and putt space.

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The Bracknell Forest Council’s planning committee has now approved the initial plans, which will provide more than 1,000 new burial spaces in the borough, enough for the next 25-30 years.

The news, however, has not gone down well with golfers who make use of the golf facility. One player estimated that up to 150 children used the nine-hole venue weekly after plans were proposed for its closure.

And according to the BBC, an objector named Mr Price told the planning committee: “In an age where we are striving to keep our children away from electronic devices and to get them active in secure spaces, this area of the golf course is of vital importance.”

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Fortunately for members at Downshire, the pitch and putt is set to be the only area of the facility affected. The facility also includes an 18-hole parkland course, a floodlit Trackman driving range and a golf simulator, which will all remain.

“We respect the council’s decision-making process and their responsibility to address the needs of the entire community,” Mark Tenant from Everyone Active, the company that runs the course, said last year.

“We recognise that this decision affects some of our golf players, and we are committed to working with the council to ensure a smooth transition and to explore ways to enhance other golfing facilities.”

The conversion plans are set to go before the council before final approval later this year.