THE Bolton Road Sports Club saga rumbled relentlessly onwards on Tuesday when a public inquiry was held over the issue.

Representatives from Wainhomes, Bolton Road Methodist Church, the sports club and the council gathered at Radcliffe Civic Hall.

Bolton Road Methodist Church wants to sell the land on which the sports club currently stands to Wainhomes to fund the building of a new place of worship.

The four-hour inquiry focused on a planning application to relocate the sports club to land near Dow Lane, with access off Wadebridge Drive.

The scheme was refused by planning councillors in March, they said access to the site was unsuitable.

An associated scheme to build houses on sports club grounds at Bolton Road was automatically rejected when the re-siting plan fell - the housing application could only progress if an alternative sports club site could be found, offering an equivalent community benefit. Dow Lane matched this criterion. Wainhomes appealed against the decision but later partly withdrew it. They dropped their protest against the relocation because councillors have since given the go-ahead for the move - but with access off Elton Vale Road.

But instead of submitting a new application to build the houses at Bolton Road, they decided to press ahead with this element of the appeal.

About 40 members of the public were present on Tuesday, many of them living near the proposed housing and sports club sites, the vast majority against both developments.

At the inquiry, Wainhomes put a case forward for a reversal of the March housing decision.

Later Bury Council principal planning officer John Hodkinson gave evidence and several members of the public aired their views over the matter.

Wainhomes will have legal obligations to ensure the alternative sports facilities are in place before building starts at Bolton Road.

They would also have to provide a footpath and cycleway on old railway lines adjacent to the new housing site.

After the inquiry the government inspector visited the proposed housing site with representatives of both sides. His decision is expected in due course.

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