Pyle & Kenfig Golf Club
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Project summary
As Pyle & Kenfig Golf Club approached their centennial year, a new practice area was planned to mark the occasion and improve the golf course.
To hit an opening date of 2023, 100 years on from their inaugural year, planning permission was needed by summer 2022. To achieve this, the club engaged STRI’s in-house planning, golf course architecture, ecology, water management, and landscape architecture expertise.
the
challenge
The club’s location presented a significant planning challenge, being in the vicinity of a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a site with evidence of historic settlements. The SSSI designation is due to a unique ecological area nearby where great crested newts – a species that is protected by law – have been recorded. Prior to planning permission, the golf club needed to prove that any water management strategy for the practice green would not negatively impact the local water sources and the habitat for the great crested newts.
The historical site nearby held potential archaeological constraints, with recent findings of evidence of historic settlements in the general vicinity, and concern around the potential for possible disturbance during construction.
Managing the time constraints was another challenge, with pressure to gain approval on planning permission in good time to allow for the opening of the new practice green aligned to the centenary.
the
solution
STRI’s in-house ecology team utilised contacts to source specialist great crested newt expertise to work with our environmental arm, Environmental Protection Group (EPG), to ensure that the water management strategies wouldn’t negatively impact the great crested newt population. EPG then worked closely with STRI’s golf course architect and landscape architect to establish a design that would meet the needs of the golf club, protect local biodiversity and sustainably manage surface water.
The SuDS system devised was submitted to the Sustainable Drainage Approval Body (SABs) in Wales, in line with local legislation. The system was subsequently approved as it was confirmed that there would be no impact on the great crested newts at the nearby site and general sustainability.
When attention turned to the historical site, STRI bolstered its own research by appointing archaeological specialists to conduct a survey, ensuring that no historical remains were hidden beneath the area to be excavated.
Constant liaison with the golf club and the council meant that the process was as smooth and timely as possible, beating the time constraints through effective communication and an abundance of in-house expertise, eliminating the time that would have otherwise been taken to source reliable providers of services. All of this enabled our client to achieve their planning objective and they are now well placed to hit construction deadlines, which STRI Group have submitted a tender for, though Carrick, our construction business.
the
results
- Full planning permission achieved
- Limited pre-commencement conditions due to continued liaison with planning authority
- STRI Group’s construction company, Carrick Sports, has been invited to tender for the work
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