NANTWICH looks set to have its own golf course after all, following a dramatic U-turn from councillors.

The Planning Committee were due to refuse an application to turn 53 hectares of Hankelow farmland into an 18-hole course at a meeting last Thursday.

But farmer Alan Reade, who owns the site near Brookfield Farm in Longhill Lane, has convinced planning officers that any impact on the agricultural land quality would not be irreversible.

The course will be the first part of a proposed development to include a four star hotel and leisure complex.

Councillor Gwyn Griffiths said he still had concerns about the project.

"Over the past 20 years or so there has been an explosion in the number of courses built to serve the corporate market," he said.

"This course is not intended to be a local private club, it is intended to serve a corporate market across a regional basis and will increase traffic in that area."

Planning officer Andrew Dobson stressed that the committee was only making a decision on whether to approve the construction of the golf course.

"The applications can be separated. If they say they will require a hotel, we will carry out another investigation, then we will make a decision on whether to approve that," he said.

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