Bid to Get Extra Protection for West Middlesex Golf Club
Campaign seeking to have it listed as Asset of Community Value
Picture: West Middlesex Golf Club
July 23, 2026
Campaigners fighting to save West Middlesex Golf Club are seeking to have the 135-year-old course listed as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) in a move they hope will strengthen efforts to protect its future.
Supporters are being urged to join a newly-formed "Save West Middlesex Golf Club Community Group" and back an application to Ealing Council for the designation. Club committee member Gerry Dempsey has appealed for Ealing residents to register their support, saying the application needs to be submitted ahead of Thursday’s (23 July) meeting of the council's Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
If you are an Ealing resident and want to support the application and join the group, you should email westmiddxgc@gmail.com with the following statement: I, (Full Name), of (Full Address), am part of the "Save West Middlesex Golf Club Community Group" and fully support its application for West Middlesex Golf Club to be listed as an Asset of Community Value within the London Borough of Ealing.
The ACV designation, introduced under the Localism Act 2011, is intended to recognise buildings or land that further the social wellbeing or social interests of a local community. While it is most commonly associated with pubs, village shops and sports facilities, it can also apply to larger recreational sites such as golf clubs.
For West Middlesex Golf Club, campaigners believe the designation would underline the site's value beyond golf. Founded in 1891, the club is the oldest golf club in Middlesex and has long been used not only by golfers but also for weddings, funerals, charity events and community gatherings. More than 7,000 rounds of golf were played there last year, while the course supports 27 jobs and hosts county and national amateur competitions.
An Asset of Community Value listing does not prevent redevelopment or guarantee that a facility will remain in its existing use. It also does not stop a landowner from seeking planning permission for alternative uses.
Its main legal effect comes if the owner decides to sell the listed asset. In that situation, eligible community groups can trigger a six-month moratorium, giving them time to prepare a bid to buy the property before it is sold on the open market. The owner is under no obligation to accept that bid and can ultimately sell to whichever purchaser they choose.
Planning authorities are expected to take ACV status into account when considering planning applications affecting a listed site. While it is not decisive, it can become a material consideration in planning decisions by recognising the community importance of the asset.
Supporters also believe that formal recognition by Ealing Council would strengthen the case for retaining recreational use on the site as discussions continue over its long-term future.
The council has already approved a legal settlement involving the surrender of the club's existing long lease and the grant of a new short-term lease running until September 2027. An ACV listing would not overturn that decision or alter the terms of the lease. Nor would it prevent Greenford Road Ltd (GRL), if it acquires the clubhouse and adjoining land under the approved agreement, from pursuing redevelopment proposals, although any planning application would still need to be determined through the normal planning process.
The designation would therefore be one element of a wider campaign rather than a guarantee that the golf course will be preserved.
The ACV application comes as opposition councillors continue efforts to challenge Ealing Council's decision over the future of the site.
Twenty-three opposition councillors have signed a formal "call-in" of the cabinet decision approving an agreement under which West Middlesex Golf Club will surrender its existing 76-year lease in exchange for a short-term lease until September 2027.
The call-in will be considered by Ealing Council's Overview and Scrutiny Committee at 7pm on Thursday (23 July). The committee can either allow the cabinet's decision to stand or refer it back to cabinet for reconsideration.
The opposition argues there was insufficient consultation, questions why the council did not intervene when the club entered administration in 2019, and raises concerns about the future of Metropolitan Open Land and the option granted to GRL over approximately 2.27 acres of the site.
Before cabinet approved the agreement earlier this month, West Middlesex Golf Club warned that replacing its long lease with a short-term arrangement could leave it unable to renew memberships beyond April 2027, potentially forcing it into insolvency and putting 27 jobs at risk.
An Ealing Council spokesperson previously said: "The proposed settlement provides a more certain and cost-effective resolution than continuing litigation.
"The Cabinet decision does not determine the long-term future of the golf course and no decisions about the future of the site have been taken yet."
Current and former members, together with local residents, have continued to rally behind the club. A petition calling for West Middlesex Golf Club to be preserved for the community has already attracted more than 4,000 signatures.
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