Alfold’s mole watches holes being dug at Wildwood Golf Course.

For anyone who has just dropped into the eastern villages from the moon – back in the good old days in 2010 – Alfold’s Wildwood Golf Club was given consent to build a £35m hotel, golf lodges and an HQ for the PGA Academy. 

You can read all about it in the link here:

A new era for Wildwood.

Fast forward five years, and the club finally went into the rough – leaving staff and suppliers out-of-pocket and its members and the owners in a bunker. Has Alfold’s Wildwood Golf Club gone into the rough?

Wildwood 10 Dec 2019 Gazette Notice

 Now, years later,  the natives in the Surrey/Sussex border village are getting restless (and not for the first time, we might add.) It appears someone is taking a swing at developing the site – and a bit more besides!

Our local mole – Denise Wordsworth – we don’t have her post-Covid pic yet, tells us life down on the range – driving, that is, is stirring up a certain amount of discontent. She tells us…

Dear WW

As ever I do like to keep you up to date with the latest Shenanigans in Alfold!

“At last…” we all cry “The Golf Club is going to be updated, and there will be a new Hotel, Health Spa and of course the lovely Lodges” Well that is what the Village thought back in 2011 and even in 2018 – But as the years rolled on and the golf course fell into disrepair and was used for livestock, it became blindingly obvious that things were not progressing as planned.

Then over the last 4 weeks or so it was obvious something was going on due to the number of Cars (and some very expensive looking ones) seen in the car park and lots of men in High Viz mooching around the place. Even a van from IDSE Ltd a Developer from Kent on several occasions. Then we started to notice the Spray painted markings on the road saying “ GATE 1” “GATE 2” etc…. which we thought a little odd.

Then last week we noticed a massive gap in the Hedgerow towards the 9 Hole and the pictures above show what has happened as of 21^st October.

It has to beg the questions:

1. Did they inform WBC Planning Department they were going to commence with this destruction?
2. Have they done the Archaeological Surveys they were supposed to have done prior to any works?
3. Have they done anything to protect the vast amount of Wildlife in the whole area – but quite specifically in the 9 Hole area? – We would always see deer, hedgehogs, mole-holes, herons, cormorants, woodpeckers, kingfishers, ducks of all kinds, geese and so many others we never saw. The ponds are filled with fish as we have seen, as have the anglers that enjoyed their escape to the Ponds during Lockdown

OMG, this is beginning to sound like Red Court at Haslemere!

As ever the sceptic – It does beg the question as to whether this demolition work is for “Phase 1” of the original application or is it something completely new – In which case where is the Planning application?

Where indeed we hear you cry?

It looks very much to me like they will be looking at the hardstanding in the car park and putting it down as a brownfield site and the nine holes that were supposed to be for the 23 “Academy Lodges”  – as a site for new housing.

Our Local Councillor Kevin Deanus has been onto Planning to request a site meeting as you can see below – So hopefully someone will have some answers …………… Watch this space

As ever

Denise

What would the good people of Alfold do without her?

PS Fear not: Alfold’s Cllr Kevin is onto it!

Here’s the picture postcard of Wildwood circa 2020.

Birds eye view of part of the site

Diggers away…

Hedgerows disappearing?

Mud glorious mud

Keep out the locals

More hedgerows disappearing

Woodland – what woodland

Wildlife? What wildlife?

Where once there were trees – birds, woodpeckers; nightjars, nightingales… and more?;