Proposed closure of Temple Newsam Golf Club to go before Leeds council

The uncertain future of a decades-old golf course in east Leeds will once again be under the spotlight, as a senior Leeds politician is calling on the council to reverse plans to close it.
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Coun Andrew Carter, leader of Leeds City Council’s Conservatives group, is set to put forward a motion, known as a “white paper”, at next week’s full council meeting, calling for proposals to close Temple Newsam Golf Club “to be reversed with immediate effect”.

It follows early plans released last month by the council to close the golf club and replace it with a new family cycling facility in the coming years. The authority said that the club was costing £200,000 a year to run and had declining membership and income figures.

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Coun Carter’s motion, which will be voted on by all 99 council members at next Wednesday’s meeting, reads: “This Council is concerned at the administration’s proposals to close Temple Newsam golf course. Temple Newsam and its wider estate is a key asset for the city. Council is disappointed at the limited scope of the report considered by the Executive Board in October containing, as it did, only one option in relation to the development of facilities at Temple Newsam.

Temlpe Newsam Golf Club.Temlpe Newsam Golf Club.
Temlpe Newsam Golf Club.

“Council is also concerned that the final decision on this important issue would have been left to council officers, via delegated decision, had it not been for the intervention of the Leader of the Opposition.

“Council notes reports from golf club members that all but essential maintenance works on the golf courses have ceased. Council believes that this seriously undermines the consultation process as it suggests that a decision has already been taken about the future of golf at Temple

Newsam.

“This Council believes that that there is sufficient scope for both golf and other facilities, including cycling, to be developed at Temple Newsam and calls for the proposals to close the golf facilities to be reversed with immediate effect.”

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The plans hit the headlines in October when campaigners said they were going to fight to save the golf club, which opened in 1929.

Early plans for the site include cycle trails, a BMX pump-track and a family road safety park which can host cycling workshops for schools.

There would also be a cafe and a new events space for gigs, festivals and other events.

At a meeting of the council’s decision-making executive board on October 16, councillors agreed to allow the authority’s Parks and Countryside department to start public consultation on the proposed closure of the golf course and the proposed development. The item should come back before the executive board at a later date.