PLANS for new homes at a former industrial estate have been revealed as residents fight another developer's bid to build on a nearby golf course.

An application for the new development of 49 houses at Hercules Business Park in Lostock has been submitted to the council by FI Real Estate Management and Bellway Homes, the company behind the controversial Bowlands Hey homes in Westhoughton.

The land off Lostock Lane and Hall Lane is now occupied by hardstanding and industrial buildings which are currently being demolished.

This latest proposal is part of an ongoing residential development in the area which has planning permission in place for 200 houses.

Access to this site would be from Lostock Lane, according to the application. It said: "The development ensures the street and spaces in between are safe, secure and welcoming for all. The new routes connects to the existing routes making the development easy to get to and move through."

But some residents in the area have their minds focused on another proposed housing development on a nearby golf course.

Beck Developments wants to build houses on Regent Park Golf Course which currently has protected green belt status. It made a written representation to that end as part of a consultation into the latest draft of the region's 20-year masterplan for homes, jobs and the environment.

The Greater Manchester Spatial Framework, for which a decision has been delayed until after May 2020, details how local authorities intend to meet the combined housing need of 201,000 homes.

In Bolton, where 13,800 homes must be built by 2037, no green belt land is set to be released for housebuilding – although two sites would be used for industrial development.

But Beck Developments has argued that the release of green belt land is required to meet the local housing need and that the golf course, which is currently owned by the council, is a "deliverable" and "viable" option to achieve that.

A petition opposing the golf course development has been signed by more than 360 people so far.

It said: "The course is currently in a designated greenbelt area forming a green gateway between the towns of Bolton and Horwich. It is a community facility used extensively by families, walkers, joggers, and cyclists.

"The course is home to a diverse range of wildlife that would face lose their habitat including deer, birds, geese, bats, newts and aquatic invertebrates.

"The golf course and surrounding green belt is a giant soakaway for rainwater coming off the hills and surrounding developments the loss of which would likely result in further flooding downstream. Notably affecting residents of Lostock whom are struggling with the repeated flooding of Middlebrook and Bessy Brook streams. Additional development will only make matters considerably worse."