Golf club to be turned into large home

A struggling golf course that previously belonged to businessman Alfie Best can now be converted into a large private home, after planning approval was granted for the change.

Sapey Golf Club, north of Bromyard in Herefordshire, was purchased from the mobile property mogul by Brett Walton in March 2025.

The developer's approved plans will see the two-storey clubhouse converted into a four-bedroom home after a previous application to build a "tourism and leisure complex" was rejected.

In September county planners said the bid to create a new leisure complex was "fundamentally lacking in the necessary detail".

Justifying his latest plans, Walton said the course "was losing a significant amount of money each year" and could not compete with other clubs in the area with "better facilities".

The new plans received no objections on highways, ecology or water supply grounds, or from parish councillors or the public.

Planning officer Ollie Jones concluded there was "no realistic prospect of its viable re‑establishment" as a golf club – which the council did not view as a loss to the county in policy terms.

Securing the long‑term use of a redundant building and avoiding its unnecessary demolition meant the proposed change was "justified and acceptable in principle", he concluded.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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