Hulton Park development will include for Pretoria Pit Disaster memorial says firm

The Hulton Park development includes plans for more than 1,000 homes and a Ryder Cup standard golf course.

But residents had expressed concerns about whether this would include a memorial to the 1910 Pretoria Pit Disaster that claimed the lives of 344 men and boys.

The Pretoria Pit Disaster occurred due to a mine explosion on December 21 1910

Peel L&P planning and strategy director Richard Knight said: "The Pretoria Pit disaster is an important part of local history and we’ve been working with the community and the Pretoria Memorial Association to help keep this story alive since acquiring the Hulton Estate in 2010, supporting the creation and upkeep of the memorial on Broadway.

"We plan to improve the setting of the existing memorial at Broadway, retain and enhance the original miners’ route through the park so that more people can experience and understand that important journey, and create a new community memorial park garden within the park."

But local resident John Fletcher says the scale of the tragedy requires a more prominent memorial, which he says had been part of the original proposal.

He said: "This was the biggest mining disaster ever in Lancashire, nothing else comes near it."

"This was a privately-owned mine of the Hulton family who failed to discharge their responsibilities to the local community.

"This development was hailed to be, in no small part, an opportunity to finally provide a fitting commemoration of the tragedy, a social place for all to enjoy and remember, adding value to the community beyond the tiny current memorial, given the impact it had on thousands of people.

"This opportunity will have been lost if the scheme as presented is approved."

The plans for Hulton Park will include a Ryder Cup standard golf course

A final vote on the plans will take place by the end of February.

A Bolton Council spokesman said: "The council will await the outcome of the Hulton Park application and realise that there will be a need for ongoing consultation and discussions about changes to the memorials currently in place, following the decision on the application.

"However we welcome any ongoing recognition of the severe loss of life in an event so significant to the local community."