DEVELOPERS are determined to forge ahead with plans for a golf course in Radcliffe despite fears that the site is a radioactive "time bomb".

The Stockport design company, Anthony Construction, wants to build a nine-hole pay-as-you-play golf course on 80 acres of land at Radcliffe E'es.

But alarmed residents claim that, in its long history as a waste disposal site, low-level radioactive X-ray plates from hospitals, asbestos, and other toxic materials were dumped there.

Borough planning officer Mr Jim Metcalf confirmed that dumping had left "a horrendous legacy".

He said: "We are awaiting the results of an independent report we commissioned of the area before making a recommendation on whether to approve the application."

It seems likely that Anthony Construction will triumph as an expansion scheme at the East Lancashire Paper Mill is dependent on the golf course going ahead.

The ELPM was given outline permission for its expansion this month with a proviso that the cricket club be retained.

The mill needs the club site for its new paper machine house. Anthony Construction will relocate the club on land adjoining Close Park in return for being allowed to build part of the golf course on a former tip operated by the mill. The golf course deal depends on the company being allowed to dump 700,000 cubic metres of builders' waste on the land over five years. Up to 75 vehicles a day would pass nearby homes six days a week.

Access would be via Sandford Street. Residents have been promised double-glazing but are outraged at the effect of increased traffic.

Residents' spokesman Mr Mike Halsall, of Bury Street, said: "We are appalled at the implications. Many people have not even been informed about the application, which is extremely worrying."

The headteacher of nearby Radcliffe Hall CE and Methodist Primary School, Mrs Gill Growden, is appalled at the threat to road safety.

"The entrance to the site would be directly opposite our nursery entrance which is already congested. It's also opposite the Methodist playgroup.

"I really don't know how they are going to do it. We have no patrol crossing. It will need to be very strictly monitored and some sort of traffic-calming measures will have to be introduced," she said.

At a public meeting, held when the proposal was first made last year, one man said: "Pollutants aside, there is enough methane gas under there to fuel the East Lancashire Paper Mill for ten years. You can't build a golf course on some sort of time-bomb!"

There are fears that history could repeat itself. In 1992 Wimpey Waste Management, which operated a tip on the land, won a public inquiry to extend landfill tipping and said it would landscape the area on completion. A start was made on the site access but there was no landscaping.

Anthony Construction consultant Mr David Appleton said there was a legal requirement to investigate and monitor pollution.

He said: "My clients believe that their proposal is the best solution for the site and they will do all they can to allay residents' fears about the proposed development."

Mr Appleton added that, on completion, footpaths and cycleways would be built through the centre of the site and along riverbanks. A new bridge would be constructed over the River Irwell, and there would be new car parks, disabled access, and facilities for anglers.

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