Planning permission has been granted to convert the disused clubhouse at Fairthorne Manor Golf Course, Botley Road, Curbridge, into a nursery for children aged four months to 18 months.
Winchester City Council approved the application from the YMCA Fairthorne Group on April 27.
Fairthorne Manor YMCA in Botley (Image: Google)
The clubhouse which was most recently used as a cafe has been out of use since September 2025 and the golf course, which was once a profitable venture for the YMCA Fairthorne Group, closed in 2013 due to a decline in membership and financial losses.
At its peak in the 1990s, the club was generating a £50,000 profit, but it eventually began losing the same amount yearly.
The clubhouse, which was converted to serve as a family camping ground in 2015, has been underused since Covid and now stands empty.
It will undergo internal alterations to provide dedicated nursery facilities, including playrooms, a baby room, and a baby change room.
No external changes are planned except for the installation of one window in the north-western elevation to provide light to the proposed staff room.
The building will also have an enclosed garden and play space around it.
The nursery will operate from 7.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, throughout the year.
The YMCA Fairthorne Group, which runs an existing nursery on site rated ‘good’ by Ofsted, will continue to operate the new nursery as a not-for-profit venture.
This development comes in response to a growing need for more pre-school places in the locality, particularly with the expanding population in the district, including Botley and Whiteley.
The Fairthorne Manor site, which covers 95 acres of land, is home to a variety of facilities, including camping grounds, woodlands, a lake, a boathouse, numerous activity zones, and a sports hall.
The YMCA Fairthorne Group has been based on the Fairthorne Manor site for 60 years, running a range of services such as outdoor education programmes, housing, and counselling for young people.