A football ground has been saved from being built on after plans for new rental homes were thrown out this week.
The highly controversial proposal, which provoked 142 objections from local people, would have seen 94 Bolton at Home houses built over Wyresdale AFC’s ground off Inverbeg Drive in Breightmet, with an alternative pitch to be moved outside the borough.
But Bolton Council’s planning committee decided to reject the proposal amid concern about the loss of the borough’s sporting spaces and the effect this could have had on road safety.
Addressing the meeting, Cllr Adele Warren said: “I understand the need for new housing but that should not be to the detriment of local residents, local sports provision or wildlife.
“This application would see the removal of a sporting facility for Breightmet and for the borough of Bolton with a proposed four pitch development plan on greenbelt land over the border in Bury which has not even been agreed.”
An alternative pitch would have been located in Bury
Cllr Warren also said she was concerned that other sports facilities and teams could end up moving out of the borough, while Sport England and the Football Foundation had also raised concerns about how this could have led to a lack of playing fields in Bolton.
These concerns were echoed by Cllr Nick Peel who acknowledge the importance of new affordable housing, but was concerned about football pitches being relocated outside the borough.
The plans for 94 new rental homes had proved highly controversial
He said: “Where do we draw the line on that?”
The replacement pitch in Bury would have been just 450 metres away and within the same Sport England catchment area, but this would still have meant a loss for the borough of Bolton, while councillors were concerned that the replacement had not yet been approved.
Aside from the loss of football pitches, residents had also expressed concerns about how the roads could have coped with extra traffic caused by 94 new homes and that getting on to Bury Road would become far more difficult if this was allowed.
Bolton Council’s planning committee voted unanimously to refuse the plan.
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