York: 'Garish' mini-golf plan near historic city walls opposed

Council planners recommended a scheme to turn a "tranquil" historical site in York into a themed mini-golf course should be refused

Plans for a mini-golf course next to the ruins of a medieval hospital and a Roman tower in York should be rejected, planners have said.

York Mini Golf Ltd wants to build a 12-hole course beside York Library which would recall periods of the city's history.

Objectors have described the idea as "garish", with 67 letters of objection received by the council.

A decision has been delayed until after the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.

The site in York city centre is bounded by the ruins of St Leonard's Hospital, founded soon after the Norman Conquest, and the Multangular Tower, which formed a corner of a Roman legionary fortress.

The grassed site in the grounds of York Library features an ancient Roman fortress tower

Historical groups opposed the proposal from York entrepreneurs David Finch and Helen Birkett.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said the pair worked with York Explore library on the course which would have holes with information boards giving details of different periods of York's history.

York Civic Trust said the plan was inappropriate due to its "highly sensitive historic location", while Yorkshire Gardens Trust said it would be in "totally the wrong place".

The trust added: "It is a valued space from which to view and appreciate the Roman walls and their full evolutionary history."

One letter to the council said it would be "appropriate for Disneyland or Scarborough Pleasure Beach, not here", describing it as "a garish, tasteless themed playground".

One objector to the scheme said there was value in keeping some "relatively unknown" places in York

However, a report to the council stated positives from the plan would include additional income generation for the library and as an "educational experience and fun activity" for tourists and locals.

It said the council had also received four letters in support of the idea.

Recommending councillors refuse the scheme, planners said the area of existing lawn would "no longer be a foil for the surrounding monuments" and the activity generated by the visitor attraction would "transform the solitude of the area".