The consultation closes at midnight on Friday 31 July 2026.

Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council is consulting on proposals that could see Panshanger Golf Course replaced by new leisure facilities together with housing.

The consultation raises a number of significant issues for residents and, while many people welcome investment in improved leisure facilities, the proposals have prompted questions about whether sufficient information is currently available for residents to make an informed decision.

Why this consultation matters

If the proposals are incorporated into the Local Plan, they are much more likely to proceed and get built. Changes to the planning system are expected to reduce the influence of resident objections as the Local Plan will take precedence. For this reason, it is important that residents carefully consider the proposals now and respond before the consultation closes.

Headline issues that residents may wish to consider

These include:

• Whether the consultation provides enough information about the implications of the proposed redevelopment.
• Whether the existing public golf course should remain, either in full or in part?
• The lack of published financial information relating to the current golf course?
• Whether suitable alternative public golf facilities are available and affordable?
• Whether the Panshanger site is the most appropriate location for new leisure facilities and housing?
• Whether all potential development sites have been assessed and compared?
• The impact of any future development on the Mimram Valley and surrounding Green Belt?

These issues are explored in more detail at the end of this post.

Swimming pool and leisure facilities

Many residents have long supported the return of a swimming pool to Welwyn Garden City following the closure of Splashlands in 1999.

The question for many people is not whether improved leisure facilities are needed, but whether the proposed funding model, location and redevelopment of Panshanger Golf Course represent the best solution.

Make your views known

Whatever your opinion, this consultation is your opportunity to tell the Council what you think.

Council Official Consultation and FAQs

https://www.welhat.gov.uk/leisure-engagement

There is also an independent petition supporting the retention of Panshanger Golf Course.

https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-closure-of-panshanger-golf-course

The Council has indicated that this petition will not be considered and the consultation is the preferred way for residents to express their views, so we encourage everyone to complete the consultation before considering the petition.

We expect this article may be updated if further information becomes available before the consultation closes.

Detailed Issues That Residents May Wish to Consider When Making Their Consultation Response

General

• The Council is proposing that the provision of wider leisure facilities and houses/ flats is more important than retaining the Panshanger Golf Course site. Residents will need to make their opinions clear in the consultation response.
• The proposals are at a preliminary stage so no (published) work has been done to essess the suitablity of the site for development e.g. no site survey has taken place to ascertain positions of swallow-holes etc. The lack of up-front viability planning could mean that the leisure proposal becomes unviable if ground remediation for housing becomes expensive. This will be determined at the later planning application stage.
• The Council state that the impact on the Mimran valley will be mitigated. However the Save Panshanger Golf Course have projected that there will be a considerable impact of the houses/flats see layout and more information on: https://www.savepanshanger.org/

Is There an Option for ‘No Change’ to Retain the Panshanger Golf Course Site?

• It has been said that if the consultation survey reveals a clear preference to retain Panshanger Golf Course, it will not be put in the Local Plan. The criteria for this assessment do not appear to have been published.
• The Council’s consultation does not appear to allow a resident to express much of an opinion on the existing Panshanger Golf Course site. This means that residents who wish it to retain it have to use the ‘Other’ options when they are presented. They then have the opportunity to add ‘I would prefer to retain Panshanger Golf Course and it’s Green Belt land’.
• There appears to be no option within the consultation proposals to retain any aspect of Panshanger Golf within the proposed scheme e.g. not even a driving range.
• There are no published financial accounts for the Panshanger Golf Course site. It is understood that ‘it is under a number of cost headings’. However the profitability of the current facilities does not appear to be in question. It is not clear what investment this Council-owned site has received to date or requires in the future.
• The creation of new Unitary Authorities in Hertfordshire (after the proposed abolition of County and Borough Councils) is likely to place additional pressures on public assets. A future Unitary could decide to close the Panshanger Golf Course site and fill it with housing with no leisure facilities.

What Affordable Public Alternatives are Available for Golf?

• The Council states ‘there are 4 other local authority courses within 15 miles of Welwyn Garden City’ – surprisingly these are not identified and neither was their relative cost.
• More expensive golf clubs are available, but these would not be affordable to many.
• There is another golf club at Mill Green https://www.millgreengolf.co.uk/golf/visitor-golf/ but it is understood to be primarily membership based (relative costs are not clear).
• The next nearest affordable public course (that does not require a membership) is not identified in the Council’s consultation.
• There is no doubt that the closure of Panshanger Golf would have an adverse impact on the residents who use the facility.

Why Was the Panshanger Golf Course Site Selected for Redevelopment?

There appears to be no published site selection report that assesses the options together with pros and cons on a range of sites.

The Council state in their FAQs that this is the only self-funded option in Welwyn Garden City. The Council also state that no other sites would give a capital return sufficient to build the new facilities.

Note: The Panshanger Golf Course site is understood to be considered as Green-Belt land.

What is the Published Need for Leisure Facilities in WGC?

A strategic report on the need for improved Leisure facilities in WGC has been drafted, but there is no date for it’s publication. The Council refers to it as an ‘emerging sports strategy’. It would be better that this sports strategy was published prior to these proposals going to consultation.

WGC has had a long-standing need for a swimming pool since Stanborough Splashlands was closed in 1999.

https://wgcsociety.org/splashlands

We all agree that WGC needs a swimming pool. The funding and location of that pool and leisure facilities are not agreed.