Bolton Council to pay £468,000 over Ryder Cup golf course row

A council will pay £468,000 to developers after failing to defend its rejection of a bid to build a Ryder Cup golf course.

The plan for Bolton's Hulton Park - including 1,000 homes - was approved by a government inspector in 2022.

It followed an appeal by Peel L&P after Bolton Council's initial rejection of the plan, which cited environmental reasons.

The government inspector ordered the council to pay for Peel's costs.

Bolton Council initially approved plans for the scheme in 2018, which included 1,036 houses on greenbelt land, despite hundreds of objections.

In 2020, the government said it could go ahead if the proposed golf course won a bid to host the Ryder Cup in 2031 or 2035.

Following public feedback, Peel L&P revised its plan to include more parkland but then despite the area's planners recommending it for approval, the council rejected it on the grounds of potential congestion, water pollution and the impact on greenbelt.

However in 2022, a government planning inspector overruled that decision and granted full permission for the scheme, which includes a hotel and conference centre.

It is dependent on Bolton being awarded the Ryder Cup in the 2030s.

When Peel appealed, the council said it would not mount a defence against it following legal advice.

Although the developer did not seek an award of costs, the authority was told to foot the bill by the government inspector.

Council cabinet papers said: "Officers have provisionally agreed the sum of £467,746.61 following negotiations."

This does not include the cost of the legal advice to the authority for a public inquiry in 2022.

The cabinet report said the costs would be funded from council's corporate cash reserves.

The park forms part of an estate owned for more than 700 years by the Hulton dynasty. After falling into neglect, it was bought by Peel L&P in 2010.

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