A ‘TOTALLY and utterly inappropriate’ housing plan has been slammed by councillors.

Bolton Council’s planning committee rejected a scheme to build 12 homes off Station Road, near to Blackrod railway station, yesterday — saying they would be unfit for anyone to live in.

As well as the railway, the area is also close to the M61 and a number of industrial sites — including waste transfer business, Dickinson’s.

Despite fears over noise and smells having a severe negative impact on potential residents, which had resulted in two previous applications being refused, council officers had wanted to give this plan the go-ahead.

However, committee members defied that recommendation.

Cllr Ann Cunliffe said: “I am shocked to see this application with a recommendation to approve. It is beyond belief.”

She added: “I would not let my family live here and if it is not fit for my family then it is not fit for anyone else’s.”

Jim Seymour, speaking on behalf of Dickinson’s, said that nothing had changed in terms of the noise and smells in the area since previous plans for the site were rejected.

A spokesman for the applicant questioned the validity statistics from the Environment Agency which claimed there had been 19 odour complaints in the area since 2014.

He claimed that 13 of those were duplicates and that there was no evidence that they related to the site in question.

Cllr Norman Critchley said: “While I was on the site there were lorries coming and going all of the time. It was complete chaos.

“This is one of the most inappropriate sites to put some housing. I know we need housing, but we also need jobs.

“This, to me, is totally and utterly inappropriate.”

Cllr Joyce Kellett expressed concerns that the plan could be the lesser of two evils, as rejecting a housing plan could lead to an industrial use for the site — to the detriment of adjacent residents in Junction Close.

However, Cllr Bob Allen responded by arguing that ‘two wrongs don’t make a right’.