A large parcel of land along the Edgartown Great Pond, which is now planned for an 18-hole golf course, was the subject of a legitimate and equivalent offer for purchase from a prominent and well-funded conservation group about 18 months ago, the Gazette has learned.

A group of developers who want to build a golf course along the Edgartown Great Pond heard a team of scientists dismantle their environmental science last night, alongside an outpouring of statements from a striking array of Vineyard residents who urged the Martha’s Vineyard Commission in passionate tones to reject the golf course plan.

“We need to think about Martha’s Vineyard and why do we all live here?” said Tara Hickman.

“Trade a natural piece of heaven on earth for a manicured, hyper-fertilized artificial landscape? No thank you,” declared Liz Bradley.

For the second week running last night, a plan to build an 18-hole golf course along the Edgartown Great Pond was subjected to a tough public grilling for more than three and a half hours on everything from pesticide use to membership policies.

A key subcommittee of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission began deliberating this week on a proposal for a private 18-hole golf club on the Edgartown Great Pond, but not before a brittle debate that saw one member of the MVC launch a harsh personal attack on a fellow commissioner.

The commission land use planning committee (LUPC) is expected to develop recommendations on the Meeting House Golf Club project in the next couple of weeks.

Developers who want to build a private golf club along the Edgartown Great Pond turned up the volume this week on a campaign to win public support for their project, pitching the plan through eye-catching paid advertisements in both Island newspapers as the Martha’s Vineyard Commission continued deliberations on the project.

Declaring “We’ve Gone Organic,” the bold advertisements purport to detail a new shift toward organic turf management techniques for the golf course development.

A citizens group that opposes a proposal for an 18-hole private golf club along the Edgartown Great Pond took its turn in the spotlight this week, responding sharply to an advertising campaign started by the golf course developers last week.

“They’ve ‘Gone Organic.’ We Think They’re Dead Wrong. Do You?” declares a full-page advertisement that appears in today’s Gazette.

The advertisement is a rejoinder to paid advertisements in both Island newspapers last week from the developers who want to build a golf club along the Edgartown Great Pond.

The executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission said this week that the regional land use commission will ask the developers for the Meeting House Golf Club project to agree to a three-week extension for the review process.

“The setting and the site are of such a complicated nature that the time frame does not allow us to adjust,” said MVC executive director Charles Clifford. “It is basically to give us a little more time to digest exactly what it is that the applicant has submitted,” he added.

The developers who want to build a golf course along the Edgartown Great Pond jacked up the pressure this week in an attempt to gain favorable votes from members of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission.

Opponents of the golf course project also are waging a lobbying campaign, including a series of paid advertisements, but the campaign by the developers is now clearly accompanied by high-pressure tactics more commonly seen in Boston than on the Cape and Islands.

A sharply divided subcommittee of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission completed an evaluation of a proposal for a golf club along the Edgartown Great Pond with little in the way of accord this week, but decided to wait one more week before voting on a recommendation on the project.

“This committee is not going to come up with a clear recommendation,” declared commission member Linda Sibley.

“The committee is going to come out with two reports,” concluded commission member Jennie Greene.

High-ranking state officials associated with the office of Gov. Paul Cellucci put heavy pressure on members of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission in an unabashed attempt to win votes in favor of the Meetinghouse Golf Club project in Edgartown, the Gazette has learned.

The commission rejected the golf club project by a one-vote margin three months ago.

A longtime member of the commission who has been a governor’s appointed member for 20 years admitted this week that she was pressured by a high-ranking state official to vote in favor of the Meetinghouse Golf project.