Contract with Maidenhead Golf Club was a 'shockingly bad deal' for RBWM, says leader

RBWM will have to pay hundreds and thousands of pounds of interest on a loan relating to Maidenhead Golf Club’s move – a ‘shockingly bad deal’, says the council leader.

Last week, Maidenhead Golf Club informed its members that it has received the agreed millions of pounds from RBWM to surrender its course for redevelopment into homes.

The golf club is moving to make room for the controversial CALA Homes development of up to 1,500 houses and flats.

RBWM has confirmed it is obliged to pay the golf club £15.9million to move off its land early – the lease was set to end in 2039.

This payment effectively completes MGC’s lease at its current site in Shoppenhangers Road, though golfers can continue to play there until December 31, 2025.

Some onlookers have raised concerns over the implications of the letter for Windsor and Maidenhead council.

This includes Maidonian Andrew Hill, who has been monitoring the Borough Local Plan and the Maidenhead Golf Course deal for years.

He queried where the money came from to fund this payment to the golf club – given the council’s finances, he said it was most likely coming from a loan.

Mr Hill expressed concerns over the amount of interest RBWM would have to pay on this until money from CALA Homes comes into the council.

He questioned why it was not in the budget papers covering this part of the year, if the payment to the golf club anticipated.

“[The money] is sitting there as a line to be paid out not from this year’s account, but from next year’s,” he said.

“That means we are now having to pay the interest for an additional year on £16million. That’s definitely a huge sum of money.”

“Why were councillors not informed of this risk?”

Mr Hill added: “This adds more debt on our existing, unmanageable debt.

“The golf club deal has exacerbated and accelerated the move towards bankruptcy.”

A spokesperson for RBWM said:

“The legally binding contract, originally agreed in 2016, required the payment to be made to Maidenhead Golf Club by 31 December 2025.

“This liability was reflected in the council’s medium-term financial plan presented at Cabinet and Full Council in February 2024.

"The contract also provided for earlier payment if the club decided to surrender their lease, which they unexpectedly did in August.

“The council has therefore made the payment in line with the contract terms.

“This payment was always anticipated to be made ahead of selling the site to CALA Homes, and would therefore require short-term borrowing, which will be largely recovered following the receipt of expected funds."

Leader of the council Simon Werner said the contract made under the former administration specified that RBWM had to pay MGC the surrender money more or less ‘straight away’ when the club asked for it.

This means the council has to take out a loan, with about £750,000 of interest.

“It’s shockingly bad for the council – it’s another one of those bad financial deals by the Conservatives,” said Cllr Werner.