MORE than 200 people turned out for the inaugural meeting of the Hulton Estate Area Residents Together group.

The community group has been launched in response to major plans from developer Peel, which aims to create an international championship golf course on the sprawling estate, as well as up to 1200 new homes, a luxury hotel and conference and spa facilities.

Peel hopes that the new golf course will be able to host the international Ryder Cup contest in 2026 — but residents were keen to raise concerns about the plans.

Sandra Hesketh, who attended the meeting at the Over Hulton Conservative Club, said: “It was not so much a meeting as a working group where residents were encouraged to write down their concerns.

“The main issues were about the infrastructure being unable to cope, such as traffic congestion, over capacity of schools, hospitals and dentists, noise and air pollution and loss of habitat for wildlife.

Karen Lawrinson, office manager for Bolton South East MP Yasmin Qureshi MP attended on her behalf and said: “I was extremely impressed with the turnout. It showed great weight of feeling about the issue. Most of the people have major concerns about traffic grid-lock, parking, pollution and schools and doctors are not taken into consideration.”

Full plans will be submitted soon.