New owners of Cleeve Hill Golf Club to be announced next month
A bidding process has begin for ownership of the site after Tewkesbury Borough Council announced it was closing it's doors for good earlier this summer
The future of Cleeve Hill Golf Club in Tewkesbury is set to be decided with the new owners being announced next month.
Earlier in the summer, Tewkesbury Borough Council confirmed it was closing the site in April 2021 due to its “financial unviability”.
But since the, several people have come forward and expressed interest to take on the license and allow golfing at the iconic club to continue.
Last week the local authority began a bidding process, allowing people to bring forward their proposals to take over from next Spring.
Bids can be made up until Friday December 4 - with the chosen new owner announced on January 30 2021.
Cleeve Hill is known for its commanding views of Cheltenham, Gloucester, Winchcombe, Bishop’s Cleeve and beyond, and golfing has existed there for more than 100 years in different forms of courses.
Last month the borough council approved plans in private to set up a long lease of 125 years for the clubhouse, subject to various conditions, after several parties expressed interest in trying to conserve golf on the hill.
A council report said: “It has been recognised that there is still a significant appetite for golf on the hill.”
The borough council previously said it recognises that the local area is well-loved for walking and exploring, and that longer term “any option would only be considered if it could meet four crucial themes”.
Cleeve Common Trust has agreed to take on the licence needed to play golf on Cleeve Common after the current tenant had given notice of its intention not to continue its lease from April 2021.
According to a council report, the successful award of a new long-term lease could only happen if a “significant investment” to the clubhouse is proposed by the new tenant.
It added that the proposal “provides a solution for dealing with the financial liability” by granting a long-term lease to a new tenant to meet the property costs of refurbishing or replacing the building.