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Hazlehead Parkland Development


chilli

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I & 160other people attended a public meeting of the Seafield & Craigiebuckler

Community Group last Tuesday on the back of hearing of some disturbing

news about some wholesale changes in the way Hazlehead Golf Course

& other amenities are going to be run from 1st April 2009.

There are two options available, Hazlehead Golf Course could simply join

a new Sports Trust, which would mean very little difference to the ameneties

& the public access to the golf course etc etc

Sadly the majority of Aberdeen City Councilors want to take a different route

to PRIVATISE the golf course & lease it to a company on a 99year lease

bringing in 100k a year. For this fee Hazlehead Golf Course will become

a semi private semi public utility. The company that is the preferred

bidder would be able to build a hotel & timeshare chalets somewhere

within the Hazlehead Golfcourse, Park or Woodland. This company

has no previous experience within Golfcourse managment. Additionally

timeshare owners would have preferrential tee times forcing locals off the course.

More worrying is that the the hotel & an unspecified number of chalets

would be built in Hazlehead Park, Woodland or football pitches. This would cause

a large problem of access for walkers & cyclists who use the area in droves.

This area of Aberdeen has already a massive over-capacity of cars in relation to

the road infrastructure & this will lead to even more bottlenecks & the possibility

of increased danger to schoolchildren of the two schools in the area.

Hazlehead Parks are in the custody of the council on behalf of the people

of Aberdeen & as such until this meeting NO PUBLIC CONSULTATION has taken

place & unless they vote for the Sports Trust Option Hazlehead will change forever

as house builders will move in as a precedent has been created by this

absurb development

Please take time to email Aberdeen City Council Leader Sue Bruce

suebruce@aberdeencitycouncil.gov.uk

stating that when the councillors have their PRIVATE meeting on 25th March 09

that the they should vote for the SPORTS TRUST Option for the Hazelhead

Parkland project.

thank you for reading

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Have you any more links to info about this scheme?

Personally, I've not thought it as objectionable as the other place but TBH, I need to see more to make-up my mind completely. An outline plan, or something that gives a better idea of the current disposition and proposed changes/development would be very helpful.

Although I do take your point about the transfer of a public resource into private hands. That I do find objectionable. :(

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If you are going to try and scare people into believing things you could at least reference sites that give the full details instead of insinuating that they may be building on the football pitches, park and woodland.

If you had been following all the details in the local paper like i have you would know that it's only the golf course that is being redeveloped, and possibly the riding school being bought as well for the golf academy.

For anyone interested in knowing all the details the following links should help you:

Hazlehead Golf Course teed up for multi-million pound investment

City promised mini-Gleneagles if consortium wins go-ahead - Press & Journal

http://www.s-e-a.org.uk/documentation/HAYFIELD%20CELEBRATES.doc - word document that confirms Hayfield has been sold to the MacKenzie Club (second page).

Hopefully these may give people a bit more information about the whole project rather than just hinting that this or that could happen, and not really giving any information.

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I`m really impressed with the way the council are trying to make money, 100K a year is great!

Really cant see them affecting the parkland area too much, its all about building the city up again - gotta be positive. hopefully they can continue with this type of thing and help to improve our tired looking city.

however if they attempt to take away the pitch and put, i`ll be down there in an instant - chaining myself to the 3rd tee!

gonna have some more great golf courses soon though! :up:

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gonna have some more great golf courses soon though! :up:

You think?

SOMETHING for the weekend? Hotels are cutting prices and offering an unprecedented range of inducements including free golf and meals to lure new customers during the credit crunch.

The industry has been hit by a drop in demand, particularly from the business sector, as firms have cut back on conferences and meetings because of the recession.

Now one chain of midmarket hotels, De Vere Venues, is offering rooms for 10 a night, while others are seeking to attract holidaymakers through added extras.

The five-star Gleneagles, in Perthshire, has trimmed its basic price back it is still 190 per night for a room, but a two-course lunch at one of its restaurants has been thrown in as well. It is also offering a room with free golf on one of its highly ranked courses for 225 a night.

Recession-hit hotels tempt customers with cheap rooms and free golf - Scotland on Sunday

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If you are going to try and scare people into believing things you could at least reference sites that give the full details instead of insinuating that they may be building on the football pitches, park and woodland.

If you had been following all the details in the local paper like i have you would know that it's only the golf course that is being redeveloped, and possibly the riding school being bought as well for the golf academy.

For anyone interested in knowing all the details the following links should help you:

Hazlehead Golf Course teed up for multi-million pound investment

City promised mini-Gleneagles if consortium wins go-ahead - Press & Journal

http://www.s-e-a.org.uk/documentation/HAYFIELD%20CELEBRATES.doc - word document that confirms Hayfield has been sold to the MacKenzie Club (second page).

Hopefully these may give people a bit more information about the whole project rather than just hinting that this or that could happen, and not really giving any information.

really? are you trying to say that reading aberdeen journals papers is the best way to get impartial news on major golf developments in aberdeenshire? with a straight face?

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really? are you trying to say that reading aberdeen journals papers is the best way to get impartial news on major golf developments in aberdeenshire? with a straight face?

No what i'm saying is given the huge lack of details about it on the net and in any other form of media, the local press is situated as being the only form of media tht is covering these stories.

Unless you can point out one other media source that has better coverage of the proposed plans for Hazelhead than aberdeen journals i suggest you kindly take your disgust for the local papers somewhere else!

Also at what point in any of my posts did i mention impartiallity on the part of the sources i supplied?

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Considering how much the development will cost and how much they'll hope to make, 100k a year is fucking pathetic.

I personally think its pretty good for some land that has been making no profit at all, and probably costing a lot to upkeep.

and the 100k is just the rent i presume, IF this takes off then it will be bringing people to the area who will be spending money too.

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I personally think its pretty good for some land that has been making no profit at all, and probably costing a lot to upkeep.

and the 100k is just the rent i presume, IF this takes off then it will be bringing people to the area who will be spending money too.

Not all land has to be profitable of course. Especially at Hazlehead, where they have been held for us all as a public park since what, around 1920? I don't know if income should be a primary consideration there?

The feuing of the Freedom Lands has long been thought of as one of Aberdeen's biggest ever financial blunders and taking this small segment back into public ownership might be viewed as one small step in righting a historic wrong.

Should they be thinking about handing it back into private control again quite so soon? Especially as the issue of public vs private space is hardly uncontentious to begin with.

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I think if i`m being honest and not just a twat, and trying to stir up a debate,

i actually dont mind hazlehead park, some good childhood memories down there and playing football at the pitches there etc.

I\m just a great believer in trying to improve the city because i do think its very tired and backward looking, and i suppose the only real money that will be put into the city now, is from these types of outside investors. I`m not saying that we need to sell the city, so to speak, but it just needs something!

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I\m just a great believer in trying to improve the city because i do think its very tired and backward looking, and i suppose the only real money that will be put into the city now, is from these types of outside investors.

Yes, I can fully agree - We do need something.

However, what concerns me is that this something often seems to require that we give-up public property/space or amenity as opposed to using the not insignificant amount of land already zoned for development or currently underperforming in an existing economic role.

Which may or may not include Hazlehead of course. Time and plans will probably make things clearer.

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Fact

Tesco own all Dobbies Garden Centres

Fact

Tesco were represented at the Community meeting

Fact from a councillor

Tesco have held up up all plans for a new Tesco &/or housing devlopment(s)

in the west end until a decision is made about whether the Hazlehead

development will be be of Sports Trust or the preffered by private company

Speculation

Should a new supermarket or housing project take place the roads & green

infrastructure would be decimated & who would pick up a bill well in excess of

99years lease cost for adding to the west end car chaos????

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This is interesting:

Aberdeen golf plan hits the rough - Evening Express

But a report has highlighted a fundamental mismatch between TMC Ltds desire to be awarded control over as large a possible area next to the golf courses and the councils desire to regulate any golf related development.

<snip>

TMC wants 200 acres on top of the 245 acres of golf courses for developments such as a fishing pond, shooting range and a pub. The report described these a unfunded and speculative and said land should not be leased without clear purpose or return.

<snip>

Officers expressed concern that no project agreement exists yet between TMC and its preferred operator for a 50-bedroom five-star hotel, but the consortium has argued it needs a lease first.

Hmm, so they want another couple of hundred acres of dubiously specified, possible "development land" in addition to the tract they have already planned for, which even then is not yet subject to hard and fast agreements.

17050_large.jpg

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and you wonder why hundreds of local residents are worried that our green space is under severe threat from mass development & massive infrastructure costs which the city folk will no doubt pick-up.

anybody reading this should read the first post & back the sports trust plan & email the chief executive who exerts great power

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