Peel L&P said its revised plans to restore and redevelop Hulton Park into a world-class golf resort and parkland capable of hosting the Ryder Cup have been refused by Bolton Council’s Planning Committee.
“The proposals to transform the historic estate into a world-class golf resort and parkland, capable of hosting the Ryder Cup in 2031 or 2035, would have created over 1,000 new jobs and delivered £1.6bn in socio-economic benefits for Bolton and the wider economy,” said Peel L&P.
“In the last few weeks, it had been revealed that Hulton Park was down to the final two venues shortlisted to host the Ryder Cup.
“The proposals would have opened up the park to the public for the first time in its 700-year history and created much-needed housing as well as a new school, health and wellbeing hub, village hall, allotments and around 15km of new cycleways and footpaths through the site.
“Only 20% of the site would have been built upon.”
Richard Knight, Director of Planning and Strategy at Peel L&P said: “The vision for Hulton Park goes beyond sport and housing, it’s about creating a lasting legacy that will spark excitement, aspirations, new opportunities and improve people’s health and wellbeing.
“We’re disappointed by this outcome.
“Bolton has quite possibly missed out on the biggest investment in its history.
“Bolton Council had approved the previous scheme and encouraged us to make positive changes.
“It has done a U-turn at the last hurdle. It is hard to comprehend, but evidently very localised opposition has taken priority over all of the potential benefits for Bolton.
“Since 2018, we have worked hard with local residents and stakeholders in order to adapt our proposals to reflect the community’s aspirations for the site with less homes on Green Belt land and a range of facilities including a new school, health and wellbeing hub public trails and transport improvements.
“We will now take the time to reflect on the decision and liaise with our partners to consider if there is any way the project can still be brought forward, or whether we now need to consider if there are alternative opportunities for restoring and bringing new life to Hulton Park.”