RESIDENTS have hit out at controversial plans to build a hotel and country club in Ramsbottom.

More than 600 objections have been submitted against the plans for the 23-bedroom hotel and country club on land off Ripon Hall Avenue, on the Whittingham Drive estate, which resurfaced last month.

A planning application has been lodged with Bury Council, which includes leisure facilities, a restaurant and bar, three function rooms and car parking.

Similar proposals for the site were submitted last year, but were withdrawn months later after being met with more than 500 objections from angry residents.

A design and access statement submitted alongside the latest application states that as well as two bridal suites, the hotel and country club’s facilities would also include a swimming pool, gymnasium facilities and a children’s play area.

But residents living nearby say they have a number of concerns about the proposed development, including noise and the impact it might have on existing traffic problems on Nuttall Lane.

Jonathan Sutton, who lives in nearby Henwick Hall Avenue, said: “Nuttall Lane is not coping very well with the existing traffic and there has been a history of really poor maintenance with potholes.

“The thought of having a lot more traffic, particularly if there is a big wedding at the hotel — there is no way the road could cope with that.

“You are talking hundreds of people who could be attended a function there. It is just madness.”

The site, which is on the edge of Broad Hey Wood, is adjacent to the fields used by Brandlesholme Warriors JFC, and residents say they concerned about the effect it could have on wildlife living in the area.

Mr Sutton added: “It is a magnificent strip of land that it enjoyed by so many people for different reasons.

“It provides a corridor for wildlife linking Ramsbottom, Holcombe Brook, and Summerseat.

“The application says the hotel’s unique selling point would be that guests could have access to the space, but by building the hotel you degrade that.

“There has been no contact with residents either. We have had nothing through the door and we have not heard anything at all.

“Does Ramsbottom really need this? We have already got some good hotels.”

Penny Blackburn, who lives on the Whittingham Drive estate, was another who opposed the application.

She said: “It is a green corridor and we have all sorts of birds there.

"Ramsbottom has reached its capacity for taking on any more houses because of its limited infrastructure. It is not just this estate that will be affected by it, but the town as a whole.”

Ramsbottom councillor Rob Hodkinson has also hit out at the plans. He said: “Ramsbottom’s green spaces need to be protected from developers and I will strongly oppose this planning application.”

The application is expected to go before Bury Council’s planning control committee on January 22.