Fairway or driveway? The furious debate over building houses on golf courses

Fairway or driveway? The furious debate over building houses on golf coursesJust nowShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleHarriet WhiteheadBBCDrivers lean on their horns as a group of protesters stand along the roadside. One white-chalk sign reads: "Beep if you want to save our green spaces". Another, decorated with hand drawn foxgloves, hedgehogs and birds, declares: "We need homes too!". The demonstration is organised by Protect Enderby and Narborough Green Spaces, a local group fighting a proposal to build up to 800 homes, partly on Enderby Golf Course.The development forms part of Blaby District Council's emerging Local Plan, the document that will shape where future housing can be built. But the proposals have triggered a backlash: thousands of people have signed a petition urging the council to rethink.This local protest was one of many held on Saturday - with what organisers from the Community Planning Alliance claimed were around 170 organisations taking part nationwide as part of a day of action aimed at highlighting concerns over the loss of green spaces across the UK.For some of the people who use Enderby Golf Course in Leicestershire, its loss would be keenly felt. "It's only a nine hole little course, which is why a lot of people love it here, because it's like half a golf course," explains Chris D'Araujo, who manages the site. "It is perfect for a new golfer or retired people that don't really want the big long up and down hills, like a proper private course. We do serve a very good purpose for the community.""It'd be sad to see it go… I think this would be the very, very last site you would pick if you had to," Chris says.Chris D'AraujoEnderby Golf Club has become one of the many courses earmarked as a potential site for new housingBlaby District Council has said the area of land it has proposed for development, including the golf course, could help it meets it planning...