MACHYNLLETH Golf Club members hope to be able to deregister common land owned by the club to allow affordable housing to be provided in the town, councillors have heard.
The golf club had come under fire for agreeing a deal with Powys County Council to lease club-owned land to allow a permanent traveller site to be provided.
Many town residents were concerned that efforts to provide housing in the town for local residents were taking a back seat in Powys council’s considerations.
But Machynlleth town councillors heard that the golf club had been forced to choose between co-operating with Powys council or face a compulsory purchase order for the land which could have seen it miss out on thousands of pounds under a clause inserted when they bought the land in the 1980s.
With a lease agreement negotiated with Powys council, Phil Harris, of the golf club, told town councillors that they hoped to be able to assist in providing affordable housing in the town by also deregistering another area of common land nearby, with replacement land already due to be designated as common land, large enough to make up for the loss of the two other sites.
While that will need to be agreed separately to the deregistration of the land earmarked for the traveller site, Mr Harris said the second area of land “could be used to provide affordable housing for the people of Machynlleth”.
While the club had been criticised for reaching an agreement with Powys council, Mr Harris said club members had accepted they had little choice as refusing to strike a deal could have seen the club lose out on tens of thousands of pounds.
See this week’s Cambrian News for the full story, available in shops and as a digital edition now