Golf clubs plans for expansion

A NORFOLK golf club has launched plans to increase business by building 22 holiday lodges made of timber and straw bales in its grounds.

A NORFOLK golf club has launched plans to increase business by building 22 holiday lodges made of timber and straw bales in its grounds.

Richmond Park Golf Club at Saham Road, Watton, already has apartments and some holiday homes but wants to add what it calls luxury detached houses and bungalows for use as holiday homes within a landscaped area of the golf course and park.

The 22 two, three and four bedroom lodges will be oak shingle clad and a 'pioneering design' using timber frame and straw bale insulation, clad in wood boarding, according to a planning application to Breckland Council.

Water would be heated through solar panels, there would be reed bed sewerage treatment, a borehole water supply and heating from water sourced heat pumps from lakes.

They would be built on five acres of land off Ovington Road between Saham Toney village and Watton.

Part of the site is currently used for fishing and amenity and the rest is part of the golf course.

Saham Toney Parish Council has asked for an extension on the deadline for comments to discuss the scheme.

Richmond Park says it held an exhibition at the golf club on November 27 and 28 to show their plans and answer questions.

Richmond Park was established in 1990 and has an 18-hole golf course.