Abandoned Hoylake golf resort: report says no rules broken during decision making, though councillors express concern over £500k payout

No rules were broken for decisions made about a controversial proposed golf resort estimated to cost nearly £200m, according to a Wirral Council report

The golf resort was first proposed in 2008 with Nicklaus Joint Venture Group (NJVG) named the preferred development partners for the scheme. Protests against the plans happened across Wirral before the council pulled the plug on a £26m loan in 2019.

Later in 2021 at a closed doors meeting, councillors voted to approve just under £500,000 to get out of an exclusivity agreement for the resort.

The audit report was done by Wirral Council after a request was made by councillors in September 2021 to look into the matter and whether policies and procedures were followed.

The report said: "It is therefore the opinion of internal audit that the decisions made in relation to Hoylake Golf Resort appeared to have been made in accordance with Council policy and procedure."

The report added: "The evidence obtained indicates that all key decisions relating to the Hoylake Golf Resort Development throughout its lifecycle were taken to relevant committees during the project for approval or reported after the decision was made."

The council's internal audit reviewed approved committee minutes, management documents, and relevant reports from 2002 and documented every decision it found.

Cllr Naomi Graham asked: "The document mentions a timeline and lessons learned. Do we have any lessons learned?"

Iain Miles, Wirral's audit manager, said there were not any specific lessons learned or issues to take from the golf resort. He said: "The main outcome of the review really was that the procedures at the time had been followed throughout the life cycle of the project."

Cllr Tony Cox also asked for more specifics adding, "surely when we've paid £500,000 to get out of a contract there would be some lessons learned?"

"We found ourselves tied up in something that wasn't deliverable and needed to pay to get ourselves out of it. Surely things need tightening to ensure that that doesn't happen again."

Officers said they would look back at the audit and see if there was anything else that might be relevant.

Cllr Cox, who represents Hoylake, responded that councillors like him "need something to take back to residents regardless of what political persuasion you're of and actually say to them we have looked into this, why it happened, and why it won't happen again."

Cllr Cox said while the rules were followed, perhaps it could be looked at whether the rules could be changed or tightened to avoid this.

Cllr Stuart Kelly also asked if the cabinet were fully aware of the £500,000 exit clause in the contract for the resort when they passed it and "were they fully appraised of the risk involved?"

Cllr Simon Mountney, chair of the Audit and Risk Management committee, agreed with Cllr Kelly and said councillors needed to know "if the cabinet were aware of all of the information that might have swayed that decision."

The issue has long been a thorn in the side for the Labour group in Wirral with opposition parties using it to criticise their leadership.

A spokesperson for Wirral Labour group in 2021 called NJVG's decision to pursue for damages "disgusting" and said the settlement was the "only way to avoid throwing good money after bad."

Officers will report back to councillors on the issue at a later date.