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Golf course designs bunkered by council
THE developer behind work to create the Ongar Park golf course is being told it will get no more concessions.o
UK Golf and Leisure is still taking lorry loads of soil on to the site three months after councillors were told it would end.
Councillor David Stallan, chairman of a special district council committee set up to oversee the progress, has blasted the company for "misleading" the council over the timescale for soil importation.
At the last meeting councillors demanded an officer crackdown, not allowing any more concessions or changes to the agreed plans. Since then the developer has been told to lower several areas at the site.
However, company director George Dilloway maintains the council has known exactly the situation via regular checks, and has been happy until now.
Councillors maintain they were told the countless trucks taking soil to the site through Epping and North Weald and along the A414 were going to stop on September 30. Mr Dilloway said this deadline was not meant to refer to soil needed to fill a large hole dug for clay excavation.
Mr Stallan said: "I was very annoyed that despite the fact they're still importing soil two months after we were assured they would be stopping, they were being given concessions on other areas. They knew what we wanted when we asked for that date at the end of September. They should have said 'we have to dig this hole'. I feel we were mis-led."
He added: "It's about time the district council said 'no more'. We still have not had the final plans for the access to the site and the developers seem to be holding off on that. It's about time the district council put its foot down."
A council spokeswoman said: "We can and are doing everything we can to speed this process up by ensuring in-filling stops the moment adequate levels are reached.
"Since the last meeting we've met developers, visited the site and written to them insisting on the lowering of several areas. We will also be regularly monitoring ground levels to ensure in-filling is brought to an end as soon as possible."
So far 14 holes and a further three sets of tees and greens are fully completed, including seeding. The complete course is scheduled to be finished by early spring. Half the course will be ready to be played by next summer and the remainder by 2005.
Mr Dilloway added: "We've finished importing soil for the course but we needed the clay for capping (which we excavated on site) and we're just filling up that hole. We hope to finish as soon as possible."
Mr Dilloway said because of nearby access points on the A414 they had been forced to go back to the drawing board over access plans on safety issues.
4:20pm Thursday 11th December 2003
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