Royal Mid-Surrey wants a 2m-deep wildlife pond on its flood-prone 14th hole, 55m from the King's Observatory. Five bunkers would go; comments close 20 November.

Royal Mid-Surrey Golf Club has applied to dig a wildlife pond on its course in Old Deer Park. The club says the 14th hole floods again and again, and the pond is meant to hold that water.

The application, reference PA26/3583, is on Richmond Council’s planning register. It was registered on 20 October. Site and press notices went up on 30 October.

What the club wants to build

The works sit on the approach to the 14th green of the J.H. Taylor Course. The club’s documents list:

  • a naturalistic wetland pond, about 2 metres deep and holding about 2,436 cubic metres, with gentle banks
  • removal of four approach bunkers and one greenside bunker
  • a slight regrading of the approach so surface water runs into the pond
  • a catchment basin and a drainage pipe to empty a nearby hollow after floods
  • a pipe of about 300mm linking a ditch near the 15th to the pond, and another towards the existing wetland at the 16th, so water flows through rather than going stagnant
  • low grassed mounds, in the style already used across the course, built from the dug-out soil
  • native wetland planting and a grassland seed mix

The whole working area covers 1.275 hectares, according to the club’s heritage statement. No trees would be felled. Four nearby trees would be fenced off during the works.

No soil would leave or arrive. The club’s landscape assessment says the earthworks are designed to balance to zero, with everything dug out reused as mounds on site.

The pond may not always hold water. The same assessment says a water management review by the R&A, golf’s governing body, found that “a permanent water body cannot be guaranteed”. Depending on ground water, it could be open water or a seasonally wet basin.

Why the 14th floods

The club’s assessment draws on that R&A review. It says the course sits on gravel over London Clay, and the ground water rises and falls with the tide.

Three things have made the flooding worse, according to the review as the club summarises it:

  • the course’s underground drainage is old
  • part of the Thames embankment has collapsed
  • a connection with the Kew Ha-Ha ditch has changed how the ground drains

The result, the club says, is water that sits on the 14th approach and drains away slowly. The pond is sized to store about 1,119 cubic metres in a 1 in 100 year storm, with an allowance for climate change.

A pond next to a Grade I building

The site is about 55 metres north-west of the King’s Observatory, the Grade I listed building in the middle of Old Deer Park. The heritage statement was written by the consultancy TEP for the club’s agent. It concludes the pond would do no harm to the Observatory, to Kew Gardens or to the Kew World Heritage Site.

The council’s pre-application advice lists the site as Metropolitan Open Land and inside the Kew World Heritage Site buffer zone. It also lists an archaeological priority area and a protected local view from the Observatory towards Richmond.

The club says the pond is not expected to be visible from the public parts of Old Deer Park. It says views from the Kew towpath would be distant and filtered by trees. There is no public footpath across this part of the course.

What the council has said so far

The club asked for informal advice first. The council’s planning officer replied on 20 July 2026, under reference PR26/0179.

That letter said a pond would be “an appropriate use” on Metropolitan Open Land, because it keeps the land in sport and recreation and adds a body of water for wildlife. It said losing five bunkers would not reduce the number of holes, so golf provision would not suffer. The council’s ecology officer was described as “supportive”.

Pre-application advice is not a decision. The application will be judged on its own documents and any comments received.

What it means for you

  • If you walk the towpath or Old Deer Park, the club expects little visible change. The club calls the building works temporary and localised.
  • You can comment on the application through the council’s planning register. The register gives 20 November 2026 as the end of the publicity period and 15 December as the decision due date.
  • The full document set, including the R&A review, the heritage statement and the planting plan, is on the same page.

For other live applications across the borough, see our Richmond planning news page.

Sources

  • PA26/3583, Royal Mid Surrey Golf Club, Richmond Council planning register: application record, applicant’s open space and visual assessment, TEP heritage statement, council pre-application advice PR26/0179