A golf club in Gower has put forward a chunk of land for potential housing, sparking dismay among people living near it. Pennard Golf Club said in a letter it was specifically for affordable housing and aimed at helping local people stay in the area. The land is on the periphery of the golf course, not the course itself. It's bordered by Linkside Drive on the east, Sandy Lane to the west, and Norton Drive to the north. Linkside Drive resident Maurice Clarke has an unobstructed outlook from his house across the land, which he and others said had significant ecological value, and the links course beyond. Reflecting on the possibility of houses being built on it, he said: "I would be devastated. It is a resource for everybody." The golf club has submitted the land as a candidate site for housing in a new Swansea-wide planning blueprint called a local development plan, which is being drawn up by the council. There are dozens of other candidate sites in the county and the Pennard site is one of those that has passed a first stage of assessment by the council's planning department. The golf club's board of directors said in a letter addressed to "Dear Resident" that the second stage would assess whether the land was appropriate for development, its potential impact on wildlife, transport and community facilities, and whether it could realistically come to fruition during the development plan's period. The letter said the club had always taken pride in "being the custodians of this precious landscape", and that as the landowners it "sought to balance our responsibilities to both the environment and the local community". The letter added: "We recognise that many members of our community, particularly younger generations and families, struggle to find suitable housing within Pennard. The rising cost and limited availability of housing make it difficult for local people to remain in the area. Rather than allowing this land to remain underused or become wasteland, we believe it could serve a vital purpose in helping local families, young people, and key workers find homes within their own community." Mr Clarke moved to Linkside Drive with his wife Asiya three years ago. "The main reason we bought the house was because of the spectacular view," he said. "We also have a small Airbnb apartment. It would definitely affect the business if there were houses out the back." Architect Mr Clarke said he acknowledged that householders didn't have a right to a view, but he never imagined that houses might one day be built on the "very fragile dune habitat" beyond his back garden. "I have seen lizards, slow worms and choughs, and I imagine adders are there," he said. "It's very special. I'm amazed it's got past stage one of the assessment process." Mr Clarke said new homes were needed for people but he wanted to know what the golf club meant by affordable housing. He felt a more appropriate site for new homes would be fields off Pennard Drive by Kilvrough Woods, and on brownfield sites in Swansea. Jeff Rogers, of Linkside Drive, also described the land at the rear as important ecologically. "It has been used for recreation for people for a long time," he said. "I think to get rid of it would be a retrograde step. I think the golf course should reconsider." Barbara Bennett, who has lived in her Linkside Drive house for 32 years, said: "Looking out and seeing beautiful scenery helps me with my loneliness. Rabbits and birds come to my back garden. If you put houses there I think it would spoil that." She added: "People do need affordable housing, but they (developers) don't keep to their promises." Rhidian Lewis, of Linkside Drive, said he was shocked when he'd read about the land proposal on Facebook. "It has knocked us for six," he said. "We always had access to it as kids. It was one of the main play areas." More than 150 people attended a public meeting about the candidate site proposal, which was organised by Pennard Community Council. The Local Democracy Reporting Service understands that no-one spoke in support of it and that several raised objections. The meeting was also to let people know a consultation about the emerging development plan was underway. The community council is now formulating a response to the golf club's submission of the candidate site. It also plans to carry out wildlife surveys of the land. Never miss a Swansea story by signing up to our newsletter here There's still a long way to go before the new development plan, called LDP2, is approved and the golf club's letter stressed that its submission did not mean any development had been approved or planned at this stage. It said: "If this submission progresses further, we will engage openly with residents to discuss any concerns and ensure that the best interests of the community remain at the heart of any decisions." The Gower Commoners Association said the land in question was common land, meaning that if plans for housing were to be taken forward the golf club would need to negotiate with commoners and provide a land exchange under the 2006 Commons Act. The council said the process of assessing candidate sites for development began with a filtering exercise to identify those which were "clearly unsuitable". More detailed assessments will take place of sites which passed this exercise. It said common land designations and locally-designated sites for biodiversity did not necessarily preclude a site from being allocated in a development plan, but it said they were significant matters that would be taken into account when undertaking detailed assessments at stage two of the process. There are a number of steps before LDP2, which will run to 2038, comes into effect, and the council encouraged people to have their say during the current consultation before it closes on April 18. "No decisions have been made about any sites, including the one at Pennard, and there are more rounds of consultation to do over the next 18 months before the plan is finalised," said a council spokesman.