RESIDENTS are being given the chance to shape the future of an eagerly-awaited community centre in Stoneclough.

Talks have been scheduled for January that will allow campaigners to have their say on proposals for a 218-home development, along with a community centre, on the former Robert Fletcher paper mill.

Notices will be posted at the site, on Ringley Road, in the New Year - two months after the bulldozers moved in to demolish the disused mill - to inform neighbours of the plans.

A slideshow display will show residents what the centre will finally look like.

It is hoped that the community complex will serve the villages of Prestolee and Ringley,

Warrington-based Countryside homes has submitted a multi-million pound plan to build 86 apartments and 132 houses on 14 acres of land.

The planning application was granted on the conditions that the developers would grant Bolton Council a piece of land for the centre and around £500,000 funding.

Pat Carter, chairman of community group Stoneclough Action, said: "The land is a gift to our campaign group who have been fighting for this centre for over seven years.

"We want to provide better amenities for the people of Stoneclough, adding to the successful small centre that has been running within the village of Prestolee."

Campaigners have around £100,000 held in a trust fund to boost finances for the centre.

Bolton South-east MP Dr Brian Iddon is supporting the residents' bid and has written to the Town Hall's chief executive Bernard Knight asking that the residents' fight is not forgotten.

The adjacent housing development could make Stone- clough one of Bolton's most desirable places to live, with a mixture of two-bedroom flats and townhouses, along with three and four-bedroom homes.

The open meeting will be held next year at the Crompton Road centre in Prestolee.

Anyone wishing to see the plan of the designated plot of land should contact the planning department at Bolton Council.