GOLF practise areas have sparked a wrangle over land use on Whitchurch Down near Tavistock. The land is owned by Tavistock Town Council, but Tavistock Golf Club leases an area of more than 200 acres for its golf course, for a peppercorn rent of £10 a year. Members of the council?s properties committee heard that the club was currently using three areas of land in which to practice ? but under the terms of its lease, they should only be using two. Cllr Brian Trew, chairman of the Whitchurch Down task and finish group, said the golf club believed it had a right to practise on land on which soccer is played by local clubs, due to a ?land swap? agreed some years ago. The group recommended action needed to be taken regarding the land. Cllr Trew said: ?If we do nothing, in two years? time they could claim adverse possession and have ownership of that land.? Cllr Trew said after meeting the golf club, the group had been unable to obtain a satisfactory answer as to why the club needed three practise areas. He said the council was also aware the football club had complained in the past about divots removed from the soccer pitch, presumably following golf practice. Town clerk Roger Howard said: ?In about 1989 the Whitchurch Down sub-committee agreed two triangles of land should be swapped, but it was never formally ratified by the council and, more importantly, the lease was never changed.? The committee heard if the golf club wanted a third practice area, there was an alternative triangle of land within its lease which could be cleared of scrub, rather than using the football pitch which lay outside the lease boundaries. Cllr David Best said: ?I think it?s essential the town council retains control of its land. We should establish ownership rights now.? The committee agreed the golf club should be notified that members should no longer use the football pitch for practice. It was also agreed the golf professional at the club could only use the land to teach club members. Guidelines should also be drawn up regarding temporary fencing on the land.
