NEW plans for a golf course at the controversial Rumworth Lodge site have been submitted to Bolton planners.

An 18 hole course could be built on land around the lodge, four years after golf club proposals there were driven out by angry protests.

Plans for a championship quality course at Rumworth were scrapped after a Government inspector threw them out at a public inquiry.

The decision came after a campaign 'Stop the Rape of Rumworth' was launched and local residents and Bolton Civic Trust joined in opposition.

The new plans have been submitted by land owners Beaumont Estates and the ERM Group Ltd.

Details listed with town hall planners propose an 18 hole pay-and-play course on about 73 hectares of land on the west side of the lodge with access via Lock Lane.

A small clubhouse with snack bar and toilets would be built and a practice area.

Also included are proposals for nature conservation areas on the south side of the lodge. Rumworth Lodge is a magnet for a wide variety of wild birds and is stocked with fish.

The plans are likely to be considered by councillors in late June or early July.

Unlike the previous proposals, this plan is not connected with the existing Deane Golf Club.

Letters have been sent to all properties over-looking the planned course inviting their views.

After checking the plans one local resident, who did not want to be named, said he was worried about the impact.

He said he was concerned that chemicals used on greens and fairways could affect wildlife at the lodge, traffic would heavily increase, hedgerows along Lock Lane could be destroyed to improve access and turning the land into a golf course could leave it open to housing development in future.

But Tony McAteer of planning consultants Michael Courcier, who are agents for the developers, said he was confident the plans would be acceptable within existing regulations.

He said: "The previous plan was not dismissed on grounds of nature conservation problems or traffic concerns. There would only be limited localised widening of Lock Lane in the form of passing bays and the land will remain green belt land with a golf course on it."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.