Golf driving range

RCC was approached by a farmer from outside of Devizes who wanted to create a golf driving range as part of a farm diversification project. It was clear straight away that, whilst this was an excellent business proposition with little competition in the local area, it would raise a number of difficult planning issues, including possible; highways impact, ecological impact, landscape impact and light pollution.

The first issue to resolve was whether the local council’s highway officer would accept the additional traffic along the access road to the farm. RCC dealt with this matter at pre-application stage before our client incurred additional costs required in presenting a comprehensive case as part of the formal planning application process. Once the highway officer had confirmed their support for the proposal it was full steam ahead. RCC brought in and liaised with various consultants which included; an ecological consultant, lighting design expert and landscape architect.

Lighting in operation

The resulting planning submission covered all the issues comprehensively and was able to conclude that the proposed golf driving range would have no adverse impact on any interested parties. The result was a planning approval within the normal timescales. A follow up planning application resulted in amendments to the proposal and the range is now up and running.