[georgie]

St Michael's Golf Club Widnes

info from http://www.runcornandwidnesworld.co....k_into_action/

A CONTAMINATED golf course can now be repaired and swing back into action, thanks to a £2.47 million Government grant.

Specialist equipment will soon remediate St Michael’s municipal course in Dundalk Road, Widnes, closed since 2004 following the discovery of arsenic.

Clr Phil Harris, board member for sport and the environment, said: “This is great news.

“It means that we can have contractors’ machines on the golf course in the next few weeks and make real progress in bringing the land back to use.

“It has taken much longer than we wanted to secure the funding, but thanks to council officers’ efforts, the Environment Agency and MP Derek Twigg, The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has recognised what an important and worthwhile project this is.”

Mr Twigg was instrumental in helping to break the deadlock as Halton Council waited for crucial funding.

He said: “I am delighted because this has been going on for a long time.

“Work can now start.

“I managed to get hold of the Minister over the summer and set up a meeting between the council and Defra.

“The council has done a great job getting this scheme together.

Remediation work will involve resurfacing part of the old course and creating a new channel for Stewards Brook, a watercourse which crosses the 18-hole course.

A new system will be installed to collect polluted water which comes from the old chemical waste which lies beneath the course, a former tip.

Once the new surface is in place, the public will be consulted over the design of the greens, the tees, fairways and a new clubhouse.

Further work and funding will be required to complete the new course, set to re-open in 2013.

The old clubhouse was destroyed in an arson attack.

Clr Harris added: “We always said there would be public consultation over the new course and its design.

“When we get to that stage, we will ask local people for their ideas.”

St Michael's Golf Course in Widnes was constructed in two phases in the 1970s and 80s, reclaiming over 30 hectares of land from old chemical waste tips.

visited with kevsy21 and peter sutcliffe (although he didnt venture in as it breached his lovely new wellies)

big thanks for kevsy21 for going into this cesspit first to check it out,it really did pong and didnt fancy it at first ,the smell of rotted eggs,shit and death were in the air and little bubbles of gas would release with every step taken,along with the biggest gang of spiders ive seen layering the roof of this culvert

pretty much bland and the same all the way along boring old concrete but it did go a fair distance under the golf course before coming out at a grilled section,then making its way towards dundalk road stopping at some box junction where other pipes would flow into it then opened up again and then met other brooks (netherley,halewood i think)

i name this culvert "caddyshack culvert"

firstly some boring golf course shots


this stinking pit lay at the ditton road end and was gated off


looking up towards the many little bridge sections




anyway enough of that s**t its in underground for a reason..the start of the cesspit




opening up briefly into this box section


and carrying on with more concrete


until it comes back out here


then briefly goes under dundalk road


some other golfing pictures....the once and now gone clubhouse (pretty pointless pic i know but i quite liked how i turned out)


external shot lol

[tristanjay]

Even when chemical dumping was leagal, wtf where they thinking !!! I think its brave of you to even expose your lungs to such potential nastiness

[pacef8]

One word

Arsenic !!!

[georgie]

Originally Posted by pacef8

One word

Arsenic !!!

yep you said it

[pacef8]

i have a pic of the golf house somewhere, plus i pity the people who live next to the course and have worthless houses.

I was also under the impression that the new mersey river crossing was to take out part of the course as it peeled of south.

Worth the effort though !!!

[georgie]

Originally Posted by pacef8

i have a pic of the golf house somewhere, plus i pity the people who live next to the course and have worthless houses.

I was also under the impression that the new mersey river crossing was to take out part of the course as it peeled of south.

Worth the effort though !!!

cheers for that fella im going to head bk down that way in a few weeks to check out the new drain there putting in there