LESSONS learned the hard way have obviously been well remembered by Bolton Council where covenants protecting land are concerned.

The scars - which many would claim were left on the countryside as well as among the community - after the Birtenshaw land battle of the 1980s, are going to take a long time to fade. And the local authority, by now refusing to lift a covenant protecting land near the Turton Heights estate from development, are obviously in tune with residents' feelings over more housing in the area.

Ratepayers were understandably angry when planning permission was given a few months ago for a bungalow to be built at The Gatehouse on Turton Road. Council chiefs have now decided that the spectre of a lot more housing development in the area, if they lifted the covenant, would be too much for local folk to take. They believed, quite rightly, that it would probably lead to more spectacular clashes like those during that infamous and bitterly-fought planning battle. Full marks for anticipation.

There was a time when Green Belt land was as safe and secure as money in the Bank of England. And we all know what happened to the pound in our pockets!

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