OPPOSITION to Portishead Golf Course obtaining Town and Village Green status.

Patrick Harris I applaud you. It is evident that you have fully researched the facts. Well done.

Hate to burst your bubble but enhancement to the land as a golf course is allowed under Village Green status. Village Green status prevents future building developments and as long as re- landscaping does not prevent its uses for community and golf as is already the case then it is legally permitted. As that Portishead course is currently being used as a golf course, any work carried out to enhance it will still be considered as being continual use as a golf course. I discussed these matters with several people who specialise in this work not by believing what is fed to me by a large company who will profit from it. I agree with Patrick Harris also that the course does not need this work done.

My opposition to this proposed development is based on my extreme concerned about the amount of landfill being proposed, where this is being sourced and the potential long term detrimental impact on this section of the coastal path.

Bob, I have read your post on Facebook with your link to the VG/golf course situations which you state is precedent. Nowhere on that page, or in the information provided by you subsequently, shows that development of the course would be allowed under VG status. This petition is for people who want a sensible and measured approach to the issue, not a knee jerk, one size fits all campaign to POTENTIALLY prevent the development of the course. Until the FACTS are known, why would we support a campaign which MAY prevent the much needed development?

Bob, you comment that the precedent relates to continued use of the golf course, not development of it. Obtaining VGC will prevent the much needed development of the course. Perhaps now you have the full story, you would wish to sign the petition.

Golf course is an asset to Portishead. If people want to walk on grass they can walk around the lake grounds

My only interest is to see the Golf course improved.

The golf course should remain open to all - the Coast path is not suitable for walking with buggys and young children for half if the year so when I take my family out including my dog, I want to be able to walk along the bottom of the golf course if I need to - as I do now!!

i fully support the development of the golf course. I have no views on town green status just want an open space and the availability of decent golf facilities in Portishead

The company that has the lease want to develop the golf course and make it better and so it is used more. The lease runs until 2038 so that keeps the space green at least until then.

Town/Village Green status does NOT prevent the development or use of the golf course. It protects against ever being permitted any housing development in the future. The golf course and Town/Village status can co-exist and anybody saying otherwise has been misled. A precedent has already been made which every future application for Town/Village status can use to support their case. In The Supreme Court 2012 the court decided that with Town/Village Green status the land was still in use as part of a golf course, then the Golf Club’s activities could continue, because both golfers and local inhabitants would, and would have to, continue to act civilly to one another and respect each other’s rights. Town/Village Green status protects the rights for community use and protects the land from future development, it CAN still continue to be used as a golf course, including improving the land for such purpose. I fail to see why people are opposed to such protection and sign petitions without being given the full story.

I don't think anybody is getting the full story. Village Green Status prevents the development of buildings within its legal boundaries it does not prevent the enhancement of what is already there. But to make a major redevelopment of the course as is envisaged would ensure that future developments may be validated should the original landowners who I believe are the City Council of Bristol have the clause in their contract triggered by a development that has increased the value of that land. I have worked with many cases of rights of access over the past 20 years and there is nothing to stop land awarded village green status continuing to be used as a golf course. I have signed the petition in favour of village green status because protecting open spaces for the future, especially in places like Portishead where there are few left, is far more important to all people rather than those who want to get as much as they can from it in the short term. Currently the golf course is under current use and can therefore be protected under that precedent, a precedent that is one of many. Why people want to block an application for VG status that would protect the land from ever being developed baffles me but from the response to this petition it is a very small minority.

Judging by the few people opposed to VGS, it would appear that most people put the interests of the many above that of the few. I played Portishead approach Course last season and it was perfectly fit for purpose and much better than it had been on a prior occasion. It does not need development just to satisfy the whims of a few golfers and the profit making potential of a businessman who, after also reading a lot of factual information originating from sources that have done proper research into the matter, seems to have other motives. I enjoy golf a lot but I enjoy honesty and openness a lot more, both of which have not been evident in this whole matter. Hence, I have signed the petition that puts peoples interest ahead of business interest, selfish interests and that of my own. The course needs no development whatsoever to make it pay, it needs marketing and regular maintenance. There is nothing wrong with it!