Swindon

Good, fuck golf, it’s an ecological disaster which must be why pretentious rich fuckers love it.

This one's all a bit peak-NIMBY really.

It was previously an old 24 hectare golf course, but it went bust some years ago and has been lying fallow. Locals have been enjoying it as some additional dog-walking space since.

The land is in public ownership, and like all councils Swindon's finances are pretty ropey and its need for housing developments is pretty large.

The locals have suggested that the old golf course be given over to their parish council for a £1 on a 99 year lease and that they be allowed to turn it into a huge country park. This part of Swindon (Highworth) is one of the least-deprived places in the area, and already has a large 40 hectare country park (Pentylands). Upping this to 65 hectares of country park would be pretty good for a small town of 8,000 people!

Unsurprisingly, the other 220,000 or so people in less green parts of Swindon are less keen to see massive subsidies put to that cause. The council's preferred plan is for 700 homes on the site, still leaving about 60 of the plot for public open space (funded by the profits from the development). You'd think this would be a fair compromise, but the locals are still spitting blood about it.

Personally I think they're getting off lightly with 700 homes; it should be double that, and could be triple it. But there you go.