Opinion: George Kolorz former club captain at Perivale Park Golf Course shares his concerns over the proposed course closure by Ealing Council:
He writes:
‘Has the Ealing Labour Council gone barmy? Perivale Park Golf Course is the only flat, affordable proper pay and play 9 hole golf course for many miles around.
“Around 1,000 people play around 30,000 rounds of golf there each year. The course is a godsend for elderly golfers who can’t, because of physical infirmity, like me, play more than 9 holes at a time, for teenage golfers who fill the course on long evenings during the summer, for workers who can squeeze in 9 holes before or after work and for those whose family life stops them playing for more than two hours at a time.
“There are many other fine courses around but they are nearly all 18 hole, usually hilly and invariably more expensive. Perivale Park Golf Course enables fun walking, sport and exercise, and equally importantly social and mental health benefits for those who enjoy golf but can’t play or afford other courses.
“These people are also those which the Labour Party has always supported: the young, the old, the physically limited, those of limited means and of course the workers. I was born into a working class family and always respected the Labour Party for its championing of the less well off, the vulnerable, children and the old. This has gone out of the window with this closure proposal from the current Labour Council.
“The proposal to build a regional park does not preclude retention of the golf course, indeed it would be a valuable component of it. For 1,000 people the course is one of the jewels in the crown of the borough and should be included in the proposed regional park, not closed.
“Ealing Council is running an on line public consultation on the Park. It is accessible via www.givemyview.com/ealingregionalpark
“Please follow that link, see what is said by the council and right at the end state whether or not you want the golf course to close.”
