THE chairman of Llanymynech Golf Club has accused the Welsh Government of ‘discrimination’ against its English members regarding lockdown rule with the club being spilt across the English/Welsh border
On Sunday, Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford relaxed travelling rules for Welsh residents, allowing they to travel within the country.
This does not apply to those across the border, meaning that English residents could are not able to cross into Wales.
One Monday outdoor sporting activities are set to resume in England and Wales but as Llanymynech Golf Club straddles the border between England and Wales, there is some concern that English members of the club will not be permitted to play.
Chairman for the club, Stuart Jones, has described the situation as ‘ridiculous’ and says English residents will not legally be permitted to play on their home course.
“We are looking at a scenario on Monday morning of English members of our golf still being unable to play their local course as allowed under the English Restrictions because they have to cross a Welsh border,” said Stuart.
“Llanymynech GC has 15 holes in Wales and three in England and sits next to an English village.
“The course is landlocked by England as it cannot be accessed directly from any Welsh Road, our Welsh members have to drive from Wales into England and then back over the border onto the golf club land back into Wales.
Of our members, 67 per cent live in England the rest in Wales so are predominantly English without whom this club would not survive.
“So we have the ridiculous situation on Monday of all golf course in England and Wales open but English members of Llanymynech GC unable to play on their own local course that they live closer to than the Welsh members,
“The Welsh government will not clarify that the unique situation here does not qualify under the ‘you can only cross the Welsh border for legitimate reasons such as going to work’.
“It does not mention crossing a cattle grid onto welsh land, that doesn’t give you access to the rest of Wales so I can play golf on my local golf course, quite rightly but just some clarification would welcome so our English members can play without fear of a fine, or the club being fined.
“We have sought clarification from the First Minister directly and had no reply, we have sought clarification from MS Russell George who has failed to get answer from the First Minister, and has changed his opinion from yes it is fine to ‘oh I am not sure now’ in the matter of five hours on Friday afternoon.
“We have sought clarification from Powys County Council, who just say we will uphold the law, and we won’t check on the golf course in any case unless their is a complaint.
“What sort of governance is that?
“We sough clarification from Chief Constable for Dyfed and Powys Police but with no reply, we have asked our Shropshire MP Owen Paterson who represents our to intervene and he immediately wrote to Mr Drakeford but had no reply.
“Needless to say this is starting to cause animosity between English and Welsh members, and in my humble opinion if they try and uphold this ridiculous restriction they are directly discriminating against our English members.”