Residents express fears over new golf course

Frank Urquhart, The Scotsman, 6 November 2000

Plans for a second golf course to be built in the sprawling commuter town of Westhill on the outskirts of Aberdeen have sparked concerns that the present course which dominates the town's landscape will be used for housing developments.

Craigmar Properties has lodged proposals to construct a new 18-hole golf course on a 55 acre stretch of green belt land at South Auchinclech on the outskirts of the town.

The Westhill Residents Association is objecting to the development because of fears that a second golf course could ultimately lead to the closure of Westhill Golf Club.

Caroline Little, the secretary of the association, said: "We have grave reservations about this proposal. There already is one golf course in Westhill and another new course has opened just this year, only a short distance away.

"We fear that if this development were to go ahead it would very quickly be discovered that there was not sufficient business to support two golf courses. The existing one would close and the land would be sold off for housing."

Robert Gray, the area’s head of planning and building control, is recommending that the development should be approved at tomorrow’s meeting of Aberdeenshire Council’s Garioch area committee.

He states in a report to the committee: "Within the green belt there is a presumption against development."

But Mr Gray claims: "The economics of the successful operation of the golf course are not matters that can be taken into consideration in dealing with this application."