DOWNING Street is under growing pressure to order posh golf courses to open up their doors to the public during the lockdown.
Campaigners are demanding that Brits are allowed to use the private property to get some desperately needed exercise.
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It comes after public parks warned they risk becoming overcrowded with joggers and cyclists visiting for their daily excursion.
Reverend Lucy Winkett, from St James’ Piccadilly, used her slot on the BBC Radio 4’s Thought For The Day to call for them to be opened.
She said: “It was reported over the weekend there are almost half a million acres of public green space in Britain.
“That if, for example, all golf courses were open to relieve the public pressure on public parks this would increase the space by more than half as much again.
“The 10 per cent of the UK population that lives near an urban area not near a park but near a golf course would obviously benefit from doing their socially distanced daily exercise there.”
She added: “We know that connecting with green spaces and the natural world is incredibly important for a spiritual mental and emotional health as well as for our physical exercise.”
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The Sun Says
MAKING private golf courses open up for the public to exercise on would be a game-changer for huge numbers of people.
Many live nowhere near a park, but DO live near a course. It would increase the green space publicly available nationwide by a staggering two-thirds, making crowds less likely.
What a boon for those cooped up in flats with no garden.
The one hole in the argument is that golf fans are still paying through the nose for private access to these beautifully manicured courses — and they wouldn’t stay manicured for long.
But it would only be temporary during the lockdown.
And, well, we all have to chip in.
It is vital that Brits who don’t have access to a garden or balcony are able to use the country’s other green spaces, she added.
An online petition calling for golf courses to be opened to the public has been signed by nearly 6,000 people.
And Labour MP Harriet Harman has backed the call.
