The owners of a new golf course face financial ruin after they were told it ruins a spectacular view of Oxford's Dreaming Spires, writes Matt Childe.

The Hinksey Heights Golf Course was recently completed on green belt land, off the A34 at South Hinksey.

Oxfordshire County Council claims the owners, Anthony Gresswell and John and Judy Brimble, have created a blot on the landscape by importing too much waste soil from construction sites.

Officers are to issue an enforcement notice ordering them to remove an estimated 140,000 cubic metres of earth and redesign the course. Suzi Coyne, principal planning officer for the county council, said: "It has done considerable damage to the environment, not only in landscape terms but because it affects a fantastic view of Oxford."

Outline planning permission for the course was granted in 1989 - but conservationists later raised concerns about the amount of soil being brought on to the site.

The owners helped pay for the course by accepting waste earth from construction sites, including the new M40 service station development at Wheatley. The system means developers can avoid paying the landfill tax. The enforcement notice, to be discussed at a meeting of the county council's planning sub-committee on Monday, would force the owners to dump the soil at an official landfill site - at a cost of £3 per square metre of earth.

Mr Gresswell said the partners planned to fight the county council order.

He added: "We are asking the councillors to come and look at it for themselves. I defy anyone to say it is a blot on the landscape."

Story date: Saturday 15 May

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