Yorkshire five-star country club at Rudding Park plan 'worth £14m a year to local economy'

The current golf club will be replaced by the new country club, while new tennis courts and co-working spaces will be added.

A family ‘hub’ with soft play areas and a café based around a new courtyard area is also proposed.

The upgraded facilities will also feature a swimming pool and a gym.

It is intended the work would be phased over the next decade.

Peter Banks, managing director of Rudding Park, told The Yorkshire Post that the masterplan should create an additional 75 permanent jobs.

"It will bring in about an additional £14m for the local economy on a yearly basis,” he said.

"We are at £56m a year now so it would take it up to £70m of economic benefit.”

He said the site believes there is a considerable gap in the market for a country club offering in Yorkshire, with a lack of such facilities compared to several around London and the South East.

"The whole concept is for us to become Yorkshire’s five star country club

"If they have them in Surrey, why shouldn’t we have one in Yorkshire?

"For the whole scale of the entire job, we have had a rough estimate of it being between £35m to £40m of investment.

"It will be a phased job over a 10-year period. There will probably be three to four phases. This time in 10 years we will have it done.”

He said it has not yet been determined which elements of the work will be done first but said that initial construction is unlikely to start until November 2024.

As part of the changes, the “well past its sell-by date” golf club will be replaced, as will the Deer House Family Pub.

A current caravan area and associated toilet blocks will also disappear under the intended changes.

Mr Banks said the initial reaction to the plans becoming public "has been really positive.”

A historic walled garden will also be restored through the restoration of a missing wall, while more than 10,000 trees will be planted.

The tennis courts will be accompanied by a new pavilion with changing rooms and a function room.

The Mackaness family purchased Rudding Park in 1972 and since then the 2,000 acre site and Grade I listed country house has been turned into a luxury hotel, spa, golf and conference resort.

Its golf course originally opened in 1995 at the same time as the club house which had been intended as a temporary facility.

The spa, which opened in 2017, is one of the highest rated in Europe and recently won the Best Spa Hotel award from the World Wellness Awards.