CAMPAIGNERS hoping to stop the building of a £240 million golf course and housing estate have been given more time to state their objections.

Residents fighting against Peel Holdings’ plans to develop the Hulton Park Estate have successfully petitioned Bolton Council to extend its consultation period to beyond the usual 21 days.

Despite receiving letters stating the deadline for lodging objections to the proposals, which have now been made publicly available, was June 29, members of the Hulton Estate Area Residents Together (HEART) group have now been told they will have longer to submit their views.

The enormous plans have been submitted in 442 separate documents, totalling thousands of pages worth of information that residents want to scrutinise fully.

HEART member Sandra Hesketh said: “We felt like we had been short-changed by the original date.

“One of the best meetings we have had was with a group in Atherton that has been fighting Peel for five years. What they said is that we need to go through the entire application with a marker pen and scrutinise every detail.

“We want people to come to our meeting this week and take away a few of the documents so that they can go through them and highlight anything that they think isn’t right or that they don’t understand.

“I think we need at least three months to really analyse those documents and to hire people who can go through them with us.”

Peel’s intentions for the historic estate were revealed last month and include a Ryder Cup-standard golf course, a new luxury hotel on the site of the former Hulton Hall, and around 1,000 homes.

As part of the plans, a new golf clubhouse will also be built on the edge of the vast 645-acre estate, while on adjoining land a golf academy will also be created.

REVEALED: How the Ryder Cup-standard golf course planned for the Hulton Park Estate could look

250 people march through Hulton Park Estate to protest Ryder Cup course plans

Plans for 18-hole golf course on Hulton Park Estate near Westhoughton which could host the Ryder Cup

A council spokesman said: “We know that this is a large and complex planning application with a lot of documents to be read.

“The letters issued on June 8 do give the standard consultation period of 21 days, which would be until June 29.

“However this is simply the standard statutory consultation period and we will continue to accept representations after this date, up to the point it goes to committee.

“We would encourage residents to submit their comments as soon as they are able and we will keep them updated of the progress of the application.

“We have also placed copies of all relevant documents relating to the application in the One Stop Shop in the Town Hall and in Westhoughton Library.”

Peel could not be contacted for a comment.