Blueprint for £240m Ryder Cup-standard golf course and 1,000 homes submitted

New Hulton Hall

Plans for a £240m Ryder Cup-standard golf course, a 1,000 homes development and luxury hotel have been submitted to Bolton Council.

Peel Land and Property’s ambitious scheme for the historic Hulton Park Estate, near Bolton’s satellite town of Westhoughton, have been presented to the local authority, but are not yet on its publicly accessible online planning portal.

The 18-hole championship golf course has been designed by European Golf Design, to cater for the largest golf tournaments, including the Ryder Cup, which requires the capacity and facilities to host the world’s media and around 70,000 visitors at a time.

Complementing the golf course will be a new luxury hotel with spa and conference facilities, to be built on the site of the former Hulton Hall which was demolished in the 1950s.

“New Hulton Hall” will sit in the restored listed landscape of lakes, pleasure grounds and a walled kitchen garden that once graced the estate, if the application is approved.

Richard Knight, planning director at Peel, said “The Hulton Park project is a unique once-in-a-generation opportunity to sensitively restore a lost historic park into a world class golf destination.

“It’s a perfect fit for Bolton and Greater Manchester, using investment in sporting venues and major events to boost the local economy, provide new job opportunities for local people, increase participation in sport and improve community access for recreation.

“The new homes are an essential part of the project and will help meet local needs. We have taken our time to listen and address all the issues that have been raised, with the aim of delivering a positive and lasting legacy.”

Meanwhile, up to 250 peple took part in a walk at the weekend to protest over the plans. Residents marched through the estate in the event organised by the Hulton Estate Area Residents Togerther group (HEART). It was the second family-friendly walk it has organised and more are planned.

The 645-acre Hulton Park Estate was the home of an aristocratic family who lived in Bolton for almost a millennium until the death of the last in the line, Sir Geoffrey Hulton in 1990s.

The family was the inspiration behind Julian Fellowes’ creation for TV, Downton Abbey.

Fellowes is a direct descendant of the Hultons. His great grandmother was Maria Isabella Hulton who married Professor John Wrighton, the founder of Downton Agricultural College near Salisbury in Wiltshire.

The park was acquired by Peel in 2010 when the estate was brought onto the market.

It was the scene of the Pretoria Pit Disaster of 1910 when 344 boys and men died in a mining disaster on the park edge.

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