AMBITIOUS plans to make Smithills Hall a major tourist attraction may have to be drastically scaled down as Bolton Council faces the possibility of losing European funding.

The original £3.6m scheme envisaged would have turned the Smithills estate, pictured, into a venue to rival Tatton Park or Wigan Pier for a day out.

But disappointed leisure chiefs recently learned that a £1.6m Heritage Lottery Fund bid had been turned down.

And the scheme has been dealt a further blow because work on improving the hall and gardens has to be completed by the end of December to qualify for £660,000 European Development Grant funding.

Surveyors and architects have told councillors that the deadline is impossible to meet and unless Europe grants a six month extension then the money will be lost leaving Bolton Council with just £1.5m to implement only part of the scheme. A decision on whether to allow Bolton more time is expected by the end of next month.

Although disappointed by the possible further reductions in the Smithills scheme council officials stress that it is not being scrapped altogether and further bids for Heritage Lottery money may be made in the future.

"On a positive note we will still have something substantial," said John Shepley, deputy director of leisure services. By any stretch of the imagination £1.5m is a lot of money. It will still make a difference."

Councillors sitting on the Smithills Hall sub-committee will now be asked which parts of the scheme could be axed to match the smaller budget.

They are expected to concentrate on restoring the interior of the hall while foregoing work to restore the gardens and carrying out improvement work on the estate.

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