Sefton plays Trump card in Marshside golf course bid

Sefton plays Trump card in Marshside golf course bid

A fantastic boost for Southport’s economy has been announced today via a tweet from US President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Junior which has been confirmed by a Sefton Council spokesperson.

There is a multi-million pound bid being made for nearly two thirds of the marshland to the north of Southport pier to be converted into “England’s premier links golf course”. This in turn will, to quote Donald Trump senior’s re-tweet this morning, “put Royal Birkdale into the bunkers around the 19th hole.”

Sefton Council has been heavily involved in negotiating the new deal, which is financed through the private sector by the Vladivostok Bank and the Netenyahu Corporation. A council spokesperson responded to questions from OTSNews this morning that this project encapsulates the new commercial approach ruling in Sefton:

“We hope that this new deal will counter the bad feeling they developed in Southport with the offshore £32 million purchase of the Bootle Strand Shopping Centre last year.”

The published plans include a new 38 story hotel and apartment complex at the north end of Southport’s Marine Lake on the Council’s derelict park-and-ride site, however, it is anticipated that, short-term, the Trump Organisation is likely to try to purchase the Southport Ramada Hotel and re-brand it while the new facility is being built.

To raise the boggy shore area north of Hesketh Road to a well-drained level suitable for international golfing will involve the importing and landscaping of approximately 16 trillion tonnes of special sand. This is to be brought in from Saudi Arabia in three of the world’s largest supertankers which are being specially converted to carry sand rather than oil. The tankers will berth at the Liverpool ‘Superport’ at Seaforth from which a constant convoy of lorries will ship the sand day and night up the Formby bypass and along the Coast Road.

Work is anticipated to take just over 21 months. Labour shortages will be met by importing approximately 2400 specialist Korean engineers who will be accommodated in a tented village erected on the old sandwinning plant. The Trump organisation has a contract with the US government for resale of the second hand canvass tents from Operation Desert Storm.

There has been immediate speculation is growing that, if, this project goes ahead, the Royal Birkdale Golf Club might wish to relocate from Hillside to the new superior facilities to the north. This has led to worries as to what might then happen to the current course, the freehold of which is owned by Sefton Council.

It is thought that the Council might be tempted to solve all its ‘green belt’ worries in one fell swoop as well as making friends with Theresa May’s Conservative government by constructing the largest social housing complex in the North West. There is good access route on a new roadway already mapped out across Birkdale Common to Waterloo Road and Hillside Station might finally get the makeover it has long needed to take the thousands of new commuters into Bootle and Liverpool.

The proposal is expected to be immediately referred to a public inquiry, however the Trump organisation has a record of overcoming such obstacles with a similar development in Aberdeenshire. The main objector is likely to be the RSPB as the entirety of the proposed development would take place on SSSI land largely use at present for bird watching. Questioned about the likely opposition from the bird-watching lobby, Mr Trump has resorted again to Twitter. “Ornithology”, he tweeted this morning, “is for the birds”.