RESIDENTS living next to the threatened Brandhall golf course have spoken of their fears over Sandwell Council’s plans to turn it into a housing estate with a school and parkland.

Neighbours of the Oldbury sports venue have voiced concerns over possible flooding, loss of wildlife habitat and the impact of housing and traffic on nearby roads and homes.

They spoke out a meeting arranged by Brandhall Golf Club on Sunday (December 1) to discuss options for the land which is owned by Sandwell council.

Marina Bachelor, who lives on Heron Road, told the the meeting her main concern was the effect of housing on water running off the site.

She said: “We love living next to the golf course and my main concern is the flooding issue.

“In May last year we had horrendous problems around here.   

“If you put more concrete on this land, for us it is going to be a disaster.

"I don’t think people around here realise how bad it is going to get.”

Sandwell cabinet has approved a recommendation to close the 116-year-old course and launched a public consultation on three options for its future use which outlined plans which all included a housing estate with a school and parkland.

Objectors have complained the council hasn’t offered a fourth choice of keeping the course open.

Residents said the course and its golf club is an assert to the local people, offering open space to walk on and social and community actives for non-golfers

Graham Walker, of Fairway Road, said the plans would be a disaster for the local environment.

“This is Sandwell, not Sand-Unwell and we live in one of the most deprived areas of the country but it’s our home and it’s our house,” he said. 

“I don’t play golf, I can’t stand the game but I’m allowed to walk on the course and my kids can play here. 

“We have foxes, peregrines and buzzards here and we stand to lose all of that.”

In November the council launched a six-week consultation on the future use of the land after voting to close the course.

It has said the club has 318 members, below the expected number for an 18-hole golf course, of which nearly two-thirds live outside the borough.

It added research showed attendances at the course have fallen by a quarter in five years and it will cost £257,000 a year to keep open and  the plans would provide a new home for the existing Causeway Green Primary School which is currently in poor condition, parkland and much needed housing. 

In addition,  the council has said the option of using 8.5 hectares as green space  would see a park the size of 14 football pitches, the same size as Brunswick Park in Wednsebury,  and would retain approximately a quarter of the site as formal open space.

A public meeting for residents and club members to discuss the plans will council officers will be held at the clubhouse on Heron Rd at 7pm on Thursday December 7.