Letter to the editor: The battle for the Parish soul of Ifield

Dear Editor

If we lose the battle for Ifield Golf Club, we risk losing the battle for Ifield Brook Meadows — and much more besides [‘Campaigners plan New Year to protest decision to close golf club’ / 'Plan must be withdrawn' , Crawley Observer, Dec 30 / 31]

The monstrous decision to close the golf club is not simply about sport or leisure. It goes to the heart of what this parish stands for: community, heritage, landscape, and democratic process.

For generations, Ifield Golf Club has been part of our parish community fabric - a place where people have met, walked, and belonged. Its closure, before planning has been decided, is unprecedented, corrosive - and a democratic disgrace. When a community asset can be shut down before the full democratic planning process unfolds, we are not just losing land. We are losing trust, confidence, and the sense that local voices matter ['Seven human implications of the West of Ifield planning application and the closure of Ifield Golf Club', Crawley Observer, Dec 29].

This is not an anti-housing rally cry. It is a demand for fairness, transparency, and respect for community life. If ownership alone can sweep aside community value, then what comes next? Ifield Brook Meadows itself? The countryside that defines our parish? The places that make this village more than a postcode?

That is why residents and parishioners will gather this Monday on January 5th. A peaceful parish walk will leave the village Plough at 9.45am, passing Ifield Brook Meadows and the Barn Theatre, to join the protest at Ifield Golf Club at 10.45am. This is a community standing up not against progress, but for proper, democratic progress.

If planning is to retain any legitimacy, it must listen. If this parish is to survive this 'land grab', its voice must not just be heard - but acted upon.

Yours sincerely

Richard W. Symonds MCIPD

The Ifield Society