Saturday 25 April 2015

The Nearness of Golf to Warsaw

As ever, I can rely on Marcin Daniecki for tip-offs re: local news. And today - what news! The site of the old rampa na kruszywa is to be turned into a golf course. Not a housing development, not a factory, not a municipal waste incineration plant. But a golf course! Hurrah! Obviously I'm not a golfer, but the appearance of a golf course on this post-industrial scrubland is to be welcomed. Manicured greens and well-tended fairways, tees, bunkers, water hazards, all maintained to a high standard, improves the environmental attractiveness of the area.

Below: I have mocked up an aerial photo taken from the latest imagery on Google Earth (dated 17 March 2015) to show the area around W-wa Jeziorki station. Click to enlarge. Note to golfers: this is a rough mock-up based on Ealing Golf Course, one of eight courses within a five-km radius of my former London home. Copy-pasted in Photoshop, I'd guess there'll not be room for a proper full-sized 18-hole course, but nine holes would fit admirably.


I wonder where the clubhouse will be located... and whether it will have fine dining facilities ?

Golfers will be able to come by train or by bus (the 209, which terminates by the station), but knowing the golfing community I'd guess they will come in their large, shiny new cars in order to show off outside the clubhouse car park.

As I wrote the Christmas before last, Poland is seriously under-golfed compared to the UK. The English county of Surrey (1,663km2) is home to 420 golf courses. Poland, a country of 312,679km2 - the size of 188 Surreys - can boast only 20 or so full-size 18-hole golf courses and maybe another ten or so nine-hole ones, according to the owner of Modry Las, one of Poland best (if not the best) courses. According to the Economist, the US has already passed 'peak golf' and the sport is in decline, for demographic and lifestyle reasons. But here in Poland, golf has everything to play for as society becomes richer and older.

Since the rampa was levelled with the ground, southern Jeziorki has been developing in a way I thoroughly approve of. The new Lidl and Biedronka, a garden centre (Szkółki Zamojskie), tennis on Karczunkowska - and under construction across the fields in Mysiadło - the European Tennis Training Centre. And what then of the fields between Jeziorki and Mysiadło? How about a dressage and showjumping centre? [Over in Mysiadło, a motor-sports centre has been established, with a rally cross circuit and some jumps for motorcycle scramblers. I don't know whether this has been formally approved, or whether local enthusiasts have adopted a corner of the abandoned collective farm (PGR Mysiadło) for their noisy activities.]

Posh sports, leisure and retail. All of which will make Jeziorki an even more attractive place to live. I look forward to welcoming Jeziorki golf course to our neighbourhood. All that's needed is a pavement for Karczunkowska...

This time two years ago:
The selective economic memory of Prezes Kaczyński

This time three years ago:
The British electrical plug and socket reigns supreme

This time four years ago: This time last year:
Easter, and the end of Lent

This time five years ago:
That Icelandic volcano (anyone remember what it was called?)

This time six years ago:
Views of Historic Toruń

This time seven years ago:
One swallow does not a summer make

1 comment:

Marcin Daniecki said...

Howdy Mike,

Let me point out of some details.

Firstly, up-today it seems that, a course is to be substantially smaller than you think about. Some of one-third of a visualization of yours. That "nose" (a triangle) to the right lies out of the city limits, on a ground administered by the other county. That is not a Varsovian terrain.

Secondly, all the works are located just in a center of yours visualization. You might have a snapshot of the former rampa's shops (I mean, that dirty-blue tin shop, that's now used by salvagers). That shop is to be suppressed, and replaced by a scenic platform, as I heard.

Thirdly, there's still located a small factory of prefabricated construction elements (mainly, they produce some of concrete reinforced boards) - that's that site, where there are two or three lifts, some of containers and plenty of steel rods and huge pipes (of which you once asked what they are for http://jeziorki.blogspot.com/2009/03/trackside-views-mysiado.html). And as up-today, that's gonna remain there. Saying more, todays salvagers will be moved a bit closer to that factory.

Fourthly, A ground to the left, closer to Biedronka, will still to be underdeveloped due to some of unsolved problems. Presumably, in unknown future there is gonna be some housing settlement(-s) over there, but it requires numerous obstacles removal, like ownership matters, local plans of development (plany zagospodarowania przestrzennego), building permits.... Heard, that community authorities disagree as to a heavy transport (like lorries, excavators and alike) has to move on the Karczunkowska street regarding to developing of such settlement(-s). ?????

And so on, and so on...

All the very best.

PS. Sorry for probable mistakes and misspelling if they appear.