The new operator of Cocks Moors Woods golf course in Kings Heath moved to reassure local residents that a golf driving range was not a definite part of its development plans at a local meeting.

Ian Mitchell, from Kent-based Mytime Active, faced the hostility of local people at a meeting of the Brandwood Ward committee on Monday evening. Residents were clearly concerned at the suggested halving of Cocks Moors Woods to a nine-hole course and the prospect of floodlighting for the new driving range close to their homes.

The company, which will take over running all the city council golf courses next month, admitted major changes for Cocks Moors Woods had been a part of the vision that had helped it win a 50-year contract from Birmingham City Council. Brandwood Ward councillors said they had seen the plans for a golf driving range and adventure golf course, with the traditional golf course reduced to nine holes on the remaining land. They had been expecting Mytime Active to bring the plans to the meeting, they said.

"We wanted to know why a private company wants to destroy an 18-hole golf course designed by a British Open champion," said Cllr Mike Leddy.

However the company told the meeting nothing was set in stone. "I can assure you if no-one wants it, we won't build it," responded Ian Mitchell of Mytime Active.

He said development plans which had been included in tender documents had now been put back to 2014-15 to allow time for full consultation.

"There has always been a driving range in our plans. Cocks Moors Woods is not sustainable as a golf course, as it is. Those plans have been put back to year three (of the contract). But if it works as an 18-hole course then we won't have a driving range," he said. "The main factor is improving the golf facility."

He explained that because Cocks Moors Woods is so accessible and located alongside a leisure centre with 300,000 visits a year the company's vision was to use it as a start-up course. They would aim to promote golf through schools and the leisure centre to introduce more people to the sport - and by attracting more people they could make the course more viable and even potentially reduce prices.

While the meeting was heated at times, the captain of Cocks Moors Woods golf club said he supported the company for the investment it was offering, although not the idea of a driving range specifically. Dave Wagg, who is managing the new contract for Birmingham City Council now hoped to put local fears behind. "We want to start afresh to make sure we listen and act on the needs of golfers and the local community," he said.

Defending the award of a 50-year contract to the company, Brandwood Ward committee chairman Cllr Barry Henley said: "Residents would lose their golf courses one by one if the council didn't tender out the operation. Cocks Moors Woods is losing money. The tendering process was to enable golf to continue as a municipal sport in Birmingham."

Who or what is Mytime Active?

Mytime Active will take over the running of Cocks Moors Woods and all other Birmingham City Council golf courses from 1 April 2012 for the next 50 years.

This is what the company website says:

Originally known as Bromley Mytime, Mytime Active started managing selected leisure services for Bromley Council in 2004. Since then, through a combination of business acumen, best practice and a community ethos, we have enjoyed rapid growth and now enjoy a turnover of £21m and deliver an array of leisure, golf and health services for local authorities and primary care trusts alike. What’s more, our charitable status means that every penny of surplus we make goes back into the business – just over £12m to date.

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