Falkirk Council: Sale of land to Braes Golf Club approved

Land belonging to Falkirk Council can be sold to the owners of Braes Golf Centre in Maddiston to create more parking, as councillors agreed it was “surplus to operational requirements”.

In total, 2871square metres of land will be sold to the golf centre for £21,000 on condition that the land will only be used for parking or as landscaping.

A report to councillors also said that any future redevelopment of the land will include suitable pedestrian access for the public over both areas of ground.

The sale will be to Ordhead Ltd, the parent company of Braes Golf Centre, which took over Polmont Golf Club in 2019 after the club went out of business.

Members heard that since the takeover, the club has become increasingly used as a community facility and more parking is now necessary.

The sale includes two areas, both of which are now covered in rough grass. The largest of the sites was once used as a domestic garage site, but was cleared a number of years ago.

They were independently valued by the District Valuer, who said that the sale price should be £21,000. This has been agreed, in principle, with the purchaser.

Once the sale goes ahead, the money generated will go to the council’s Housing Revenue Account, while getting rid of the land will also reduce maintenance costs for the council.

While there was no opposition, Grangemouth councillor Robert Spears asked for assurances that “slabbing over the area” for parking would not cause more flooding in Grangemouth.

“This will be another area that’s paved over, the water will go straight into the drains and straight to Grangemouth and it will not help with our flooding issues,” he said.

Head of Invest Falkirk, Paul Kettrick, said drainage would be discussed as part of the planning process, but he said the amount of land involved was small and he suspected the impact would be negligible.

Lower Braes councillor James Kerr said the area in question “is a barren bit of land” and adding car parking would benefit the club and the community as a whole.