Opposition to Peel’s £240m golf course and homes plan mounting

New Hulton Hall would be part of the development

Opposition is building against £240m plans by Peel Holdings to build a Ryder Cup-standard golf course and more than 1,000 homes on green belt land on the outskirts of Bolton.

Bolton South Labour MP Yasmin Qureshi and Conservative counterpart Chris Green who represents Bolton West have even joined forces to object to the proposal for Hulton Park Estate.

The plan goes before Bolton Council for approval in November, but Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, may get the final say over whether the massive development will go ahead.

Qureshi said in The Bolton News: “I’m pessimistic because with a Conservative Secretary of State, the chances are he will give it the go ahead. “I hope he looks at it properly.”

However, Green has been critical of the Labour-controlled council for its part in the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework.

He told the local newspaper: “There are many concerns about overdevelopment of land around Bolton especially with the proposals for the GMSF, which fortunately has been cancelled for now.

“Bolton Council has just revealed its master plan for the town centre which can be really positive, but at the same time it’s disappointing they haven’t looked after Horwich.

“They don’t care about the impact the Hulton development is going to have on local residents.

“It’s as if they are out of touch with the edge of the borough and they’re only concerned about the town centre.

“The further you get away from the centre of power the less concern it seems the powers that be have.”

Since the announcement of the plans earlier this year, hundreds of nearby residents have taken part in protest walks through the historic estate organised by the Hulton Estate Area Residents Together (HEART) group.

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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