Delgany Golf Club Holding On To Its 19th Hole

Delgany Golf Club, yesterday, around teatime…

s any dedicated golfer around here will tell you, it’s best to be forever ready for rainy days…

And so it is that the owners of Delgany Golf Club are keen to hold on to the residential zoning of a plot of its prime location land.

According to a report in today’s Irish Times, it was in July that representatives from the club met local councillors to state their case, a Freedom of Information request revealing that in the event of a economic downturn in the future the management feel that ‘a very small infilled development could rescue us from disaster‘. The club were quick to point out that such a move would be ‘a last resort’.

The purpose of July’s meeting was the proposal to dezone these lands in the new Local Area Plan for Greystones and Delgany.

In a July 4th email to councillors, the club stated that they have a substantial bank loan outstanding ‘and part of the bank covenant is that the loan-to-value ratio of our property remains at a certain level. If these lands are dezoned it will significantly reduce the value of the club assets, which potentially could result in a breach of our covenant and a call-in of our loan’.

The email went on to state that the lands in question ‘are within the village area, are well located and served and, in the current housing crisis, we cannot understand why they would be rezoned.

‘We have incurred considerable professional fees and time in assessing our options on these lands.’

The club also pointed out in a July 14th email to councillors that the recent closure of three other golf clubs in the area – Glen Of The Downs, Kilcoole and Charlesland – had seen an inflow of new members which helped Delgany Golf Club ‘effectively stay afloat following some lean years’.

Stating that it was unlikely to ever develop any part of their sites, club chairman Colm Whooley explained to councillors that the submission ‘was aimed at maintaining the status quo to provide the club with a last resort in reacting to some unforeseen financial crisis in the longer term’.

Cllr Tom Fortune stated that he and other councillors were set to recommend the land is not rezoned.