Plans to build a new luxury hotel, spa and restaurant on the site currently occupied by Gatton Manor Hotel & Country Club in Surrey, have been approved by local councillors and will result in the closure of the woodland golf course that has been in play for over 50 years.

The £41 million project will see the current hotel – which closed in 2022 –  demolished and replaced with a new hotel featuring 81 guest rooms, two restaurants, a spa with indoor and wild swimming pools and a gym.

The 18-hole golf course, which is currently operational, will also be permanently closed. The 6,629-yard, par-72 woodland layout, which was designed by John Harris and first opened in 1969, will be rewilded into a mix of pasture, wildflower meadow and a wetland habitat.

The plans for the redevelopment include an 81-bedroom hotel, two restaurants, and a spa and gym (image courtesy of MVDC)

The redevelopment of the club, which is located near Ockley, is expected to create 290 temporary jobs during the two-year build phase of the project and then 145 long-term positions once up and running.

As well as the new hotel, there will be new facilities available to the public, including a fine dining restaurant and gym, with 100 gym memberships to be made available to residents living within two miles of the site at preferential rates. The developers also intend to install two tennis courts and three padel courts.

The date of the golf course’s permanent closure has not yet been announced.