Evening Post

LANCASHIRE

lep.co.uk WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2009 42p

Fan tells of stand Crash dad

freed to
collapse horror
‘It was a disaster waiting to happen’ – Page 7
care for
sick wife Page 5

INSIDE today

Were YOU there?

e
r tro IT’S
1989

HOMES ROW
LAST HOLE: Owner Northern Trust says there are no buyers and claim there are also safety fears over the £1.25m Ingol Golf Club
plus
BAGS of bargains

GOLF CLUB
TO BE SHUT
Pay-and-play course hit by ‘significant’ losses, says leisure giant
A GOLF club in Preston is
to close amid fears it could
be replaced with a major
housing development.
Northern Trust, owned by Lan-
cashire’s richest man Trevor
Hemmings, says the pay-and-play
course will shut next month be-
cause it has suffered “significant
financial losses”.
by Chris Visser
chris.visser@lep.co.uk
It says the club has been on the
market for £1.25 million but has at-
tracted no prospective buyers, while
there are also concerns over security
and golfer safety.
The announcement comes after
hundreds of residents registered ob-
jections online to Mr Hemmings’s
plan to redesignate his golf club site
away from leisure use to pave way for
new homes and offices as part of a
new regional “masterplan”.
Ingol ward councillor Bill Shannon
said: “This is a blow to the people of
Ingol. We are not looking for regen-
eration of the site. We are looking for
Northern Trust or whoever they wish
to sell it to, to invest in it as a golf club
and turn it into a paying proposition.
“The alternative is for Mr Hem-
mings to gift it to the city as Hem-
mings Park – why doesn’t Mr Hem-
mings join Preston’s strong group of
rich benefactors?”
Bruce Ellison, secretary of the
Ingol area PACT group, disputed
concerns over security. He said: “I’m
scratching my head over this – the
only problem I can think of there is
that they are not going to get their
● Turn to Page 5

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