Golfing great Ian Woosnam part of a plan to save Brackenwood golf course

Brackenwood golf course, in Bebington, was shut down on April 1, along with Hoylake Municipal, after Wirral Council withdrew its funding for the two courses. The authority estimates the move will save £328,000 towards the £20m it needs to save to address a major gap in its budget.

But golfers were furious with the move. Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service in March, Jackie Watts, secretary of the ladies section at the club, said: "The course means a heck of a lot, we've been here since 1935. We have very strong men's and ladies' sections.

"A lot of people are playing into their late eighties. It's incredible that the council is closing it, it's the jewel in the municipal crown."

There have also been complaints of unprecedented levels of anti-social behaviour and vandalism on the course in recent weeks, with marker posts being pulled out and dragged into a pond one of the examples of acts which have damaged the course, at least temporarily. Now, however, there is hope that the course could be taken over by a different organisation and reopened.

Keith Marsh, secretary of the men's section at Brackenwood, said: "The golf club is delighted that at least three expressions of interest have been submitted that we are aware of to run Brackenwood Golf Course as an ongoing community-based, not-for-profit leisure facility. The operators share our vision that the greenspace should have an 'affordable golf for all' ethos that supports both excellence in the sport but significantly supports adults and young people wanting to try out and start the sport at grassroots level.

"Our vision also expands on the use of the land as a golf course and we have been working with our partners that have submitted their expression of interest to ensure that it remains open for everyone to use – golfers or not, as a greenspace to support people's physical and mental well being."

The move to shut two of Wirral's four public golf courses was one of many cuts passed at a meeting of all of Wirral's councillors on February 28, with the authority also withdrawing funding from Woodchurch Leisure Centre and nine public libraries. However, community groups will be given financial support should they put together successful bids to keep these services going, something Brackenwood and Hoylake Municipal will not benefit from.

Mr Marsh added: "We also want to ensure that the area can be sustainable and improve the local biodiversity, and support Wirral Council's declared Climate Emergency. The local community have been extremely supportive in our pursuit to ensure the land is cared for and maintained as the beautiful greenspace it is for the local community and we would like to thank them for this.

"Brackenwood has now started to have some maintenance on it with help generously given from RM Estates and the [Ian] Woosnam group who have expressed their interest in the running of the course. We have previously raised concern over the length of the community asset transfer process in the council's policy, but have been assured by the leader of the council, Cllr Williamson, that it will proceed as quickly as possible."

This speed is seen as a crucial factor by golfers. On this, Mr Marsh said: "[Speed] is an important factor to ensure that acts of vandalism, anti-social behaviour and fly-tipping are minimised, all of which we have observed since the April 1 closure date. The club and the local community now await the June 16 committee meeting to see the progress [made on giving this asset] a renewed lease of life for the future."

Wirral Council was approached for comment, but did not wish to respond. At the Policy and Resources Committee meeting on March 16, Conservative councillor Helen Cameron was asked what the council would do to protect assets such as Brackenwood before any community transfer is completed, with one member of the public asking the council to provide resources to protect the greens and agree for the community to take a lead role in looking after the course.

Cllr Cameron said there was no money allocated for this and if it were to be undertaken the funding would need to be taken from another service. On the question regarding the greens, she said that while the council would consider what could be done in the interim, there would be a cost for which there was no budget.

The council was also asked to commit to concluding the Community Asset Transfer (CAT) process within three months. On this question, Cllr Janette Williamson, the Labour leader of the council, said it could not yet be accurately determined how long it would take to facilitate a CAT as it would depend upon the quality of the expression of interest and business plan, but that officers would work through any expressions of interest as expediently as possible with their available capacity.