Golf course closure considered amid £2m budget gap

The nine-hole Abbey View golf course overlooks St Albans Cathedral in the distance

A council plans to close a golf course due to "severe budget pressures" blamed on the cost-of-living crisis.

St Albans City and District Council said the nine-hole Abbey View course cost more than £45,000 a year to keep open and the number of regular users was low.

The authority said there was likely to be a gap in its budget of more than £2m in the next financial year unless it took action to make savings.

A spokeswoman said it had reviewed its leisure operations - which had been severely hit by the energy crisis - and was looking at options to save more than £100,000 a year.

'Substantial savings'

Councillor Helen Campbell, chair of the public realm committee, said the "unexpected and sudden deterioration in economic conditions" was likely to lead to an overspend.

She said the Liberal Democrat council had been looking at ways of increasing its revenue - such as raising charges for certain services - but it also had to make "substantial savings across all our activities".

"This is not something we want to do, but we have no option but to take this course of action and make the difficult decisions that come with it," she said.

She added the course at Westminster Lodge, off Holywell Hill, was "barely used" on some days and the authority would offer Abbey View Golf Society members - which numbered fewer than 40 - the chance to transfer their membership to the nearby Batchwood course.

Closure of the nearby athletics track pavilion is also being considered as it is mainly patronised by golf course users but staffed seven days a week.

The plans, which would mean that the course would close at the beginning of April, are due to be discussed by the public realm committee and the regeneration and business committee later this month.