Homes plan for Ilkeston golf course nature reserve rejected

No part of a former golf course in Derbyshire will be sold for housing, council chiefs have said.

Plans for the former Pewit Golf Course in Ilkeston to become a £500,000 nature reserve were given the go-ahead by Erewash Borough Council in 2023.

The council-owned course had shut in 2022 after making a loss.

But in February, it emerged the council planned to dispose of a slice, up to nine acres of the 25-acre site, to developers.

A campaign to prevent housebuilding on the proposed Pewit Coronation Meadows Local Nature Reserve was launched, with Derbyshire Wildlife Trust urging residents to "defend nature and take back space for people to enjoy".

At a meeting on Tuesday, Erewash's cabinet rejected the plans to sell around a quarter of the site, and instead elected to press ahead with the original scheme to open the entire site as a public green space.

A council spokesman said: "More than £500,000 will be invested in creating what will be called Pewit Coronation Meadows Local Nature Reserve.

"The cash is not coming from council tax. Half is government levelling up investment through what is called the Shared Prosperity Fund. The rest is money paid to the town hall by businesses involved in the redevelopment of the old Stanton ironworks.

"Work on transforming it into a nature reserve is poised to start soon in what is the council's golden anniversary year."

The course's former pavilion building could become an educational centre and coffee shop, the council added.

The council says Natural England and the wildlife trust previously welcomed the plans.

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