We wish to express our disappointment in the diminishing quality of Prestwick seafront. A historic town, with natural beauty and a rich heritage, Prestwick has been badly let down by recent decisions taken by South Ayrshire Council. The below par quality of the new privately run putting green - built on public land using public funding - needs to be reviewed and restorative action taken. We ask that the concerns of the community and the local tourism industry be heard by the Council. We think that Prestwick - the home of Open golf - deserves better.

Many Prestwick residents and tourists have fond memories of the putting green as it was, and this is a sad reinvention of a once loved public amenity and attraction. This putting green has been poorly thought out, designed and implemented, and equates to environmental vandalism.

We note:

* its intrusive design is not sympathetic to its beach location

* it is not an enhancement to the area

* the build is poor quality (the wooden fence is rough, cheap and has already been dangerously broken and poorly repaired)

* the building is inappropriate in terms of its size, position and character, and provides no shelter for the public

* restricted opening hours means limited accessibility (fenced off area prohibits use of the previously open public land outside of their opening days and hours)

* the planning application said that only a partial, "low" fence would be built, whereas the Putting Green now has a wholly-enclosed, visually intrusive farmyard-style fence.

* since the early 1920's, the putting area was marked out by a very low, neat, painted-white, wooden fence that children and adults could easily step over. It worked for decades, and indeed Largs, St Andrews and many other putting greens don't feel the need for a restrictive fence and they enjoy excellent putting conditions.

The lower style fence, as in the past, is more welcoming and less intimidating than the high cattle pen we now have and may well encourage more usage by visitors in a more open plan style.

This "public amenity" will be open to the paying public for only five hours a day, five days a week, for 13 weeks a year. Accessible in the afternoons only, weather permitting, this is not an efficient use of our green space. People can't come and putt in the evenings, and take advantage of long summer nights and our beautiful sunsets. Early risers are prevented from playing also, and families looking for a thing to entertain their children with in the mornings have to wait until 1pm. This was not the case before, when the green was open to anyone who had a putter and a ball and wanted to play. The definition of a "public amenity" is a resource or benefit continuously offered to the general public. The previous, partially open-plan, ticket office did this, as it also provided shelter on the promenade, with uninterrupted views to Arran. The putting green is not about making money, it should be about people having as much fun as possible on our public spaces. 325 hours of available use a year is not good enough.

This area of the seafront is common good land, which the council has a duty to look after on behalf of us all.  An opportunity was here to recreate something stylish, something useful year-round, something which brought a community together. Instead we have an ugly carbuncle defacing the esplanade, which is closed and inaccessible for the majority of the year. This is neither a public amenity nor a tourist attraction of good enough quality.

We ask the council to review the current putting installation and take restorative action immediately, because this is not an enhancement to the area, and it is not an efficient use of our land.

 

Yours

Friends of Prestwick Seafront