Ryder Cup plans to host at Hulton Park given major backing

A bid is currently underway to host the historic competition at the major Hulton Park development in 2035 as the current tournament gets underway in Rome.

The proposal to build a luxury golf course and more than 1,000 houses had sparked major controversy but the authority says it believes the hosting such a high profile competition there could be hugely beneficial.

Deputy leader Cllr Akhtar Zaman said: “We are fully behind the bid to host the Ryder Cup in 2035.

“The argument has of course been going since 2018 and while we fully understand the concerns of local residents we think that now is the time to back this proposal.”

The scheme includes plans for more than 1,000 houses (Image: Peel L&P)

He added: “First of all there are the benefits of the tournament itself, with 75,000 visitors per day and all the benefits that will bring to the hospitality industry.”

Cllr Zaman, who is also the cabinet member for regeneration, said that the tournament could also prove beneficial to the borough’s global prestige and economy for years to come.

He said: “We know that events like Ironman and the Food and Drink Festival have already brough a lot of recognition to Bolton.

“I think that the Ryder Cup will really put Bolton on the world stage, it will bring over 1,000 jobs and there are the 1,000 homes which will really help with our housing shortage.”

The plans to build the Hulton Park development, capable of hosting the Ryder Cup, had been through a long and contentious process before eventually being given the green light.

The historic biannual competition is currently underway in Italy and developers Peel L&P had originally hoped Bolton's bid would be made in either 2031 or 2035.

But planning director Richard Knight says the company needs more time to complete the project and so are now targeting 2035.

Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester, he said: “The delay that we’ve had means that we’re now looking at 35, I think 31 would be a bit tight for us to build a new venue and clearly, we don’t want rush a project such as this.”

The scheme includes an 18-hole championship golf course with other facilities and more than 1,000 new houses in the Over Hulton area.

Bolton Council planning committee members had voted almost unanimously to reject the bid at a special meeting held in February 2022.

They citied concerns about the environment and effects on traffic and after campaigns by community groups like Hulton Estate Area Residents Together.

But since then, developers Peel L&P appealed against this refusal and government planning inspectorate sharply criticised the planning committee's decision.

In a scathing report published after a two-day inquiry held last October, inspector Dominic Young described the refusal decision as “unreasonable, irrational and injudicious to the extent that no reasonable authority would have made it."

Inspectors ordered Bolton Council to pay just over £467,000 in costs to the developers to cover the cost of the appeal, despite Peel L&P not having made any such request.

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This sum of money was worth the equivalent of around £23,000 for every ward in Bolton.

But the council leadership has said previously that these costs could have been even higher if they had not held negotiations with the company.

The original figure is believed to have been in the region of around £700,000.