Rolls' estate plan still destructive (From Free Press Series)

Rolls' estate plan still destructive

AN AMENDED planning application to redevelop The Rolls of Monmouth Golf Club has been dubbed ecologically destructive.

John Edwards, vice-chairman of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales, said: "This development would not conserve the Hendre estate or retain the landscapes and history of the Rolls family who were so important to the district in the 19th century.

"Some development at the Hendre is needed to secure its future, but this development, because of its size, scatter of buildings and environmental damage, would only exploit the estate."

Two years ago, developer GSM Estates, presented a £35 million planning application for the former Rolls' estate at the Hendre.

It caused an outcry because it meant the destruction of the Hendre woods around the club. GSM Estates wanted to carve a second golf course out of the estate woodland and make it one of the country's premiere courses.

A public meeting was called over the issue when most people acknowledged the mansion needed saving, as it was the ancestral home of the Llangattock family and the birth place of Charles Rolls, co-founder of Rolls Royce, but not at the expense of the woods.

In GSM Estates' revised application, most of the second 18-hole golf course has moved into the estate meadows west of Rockfield. The new plan necessitates the loss of 45 acres of woodland to provide fairways and car parking.

Under the new proposals the mansion house would be converted into the nucleus of a new hotel and would contain all the public rooms and 22 suites.

Around the mansion, three large, new buildings are also shown, which would more than double the floor area of the listed building. A 120-bedroom, three storey annex would replace part of the arboretum.

The three mile drive would be widened and a new road built through woodland to accommodate 50 new fairway houses.

Originally, Forest Enterprise, which has a 999 year lease on the woodland, refused to surrender any of its leasehold to allow a development that would be so ecologically destructive.

Mr Edwards added: "This master plan cannot be carried out without Forest Enterprise agreeing to surrender part of its lease and I am sure it would not do this to facilitate a scheme which is so indifferent to the qualities of the historic estate."