A public inquiry has opened into a highly controversial plan to build hundreds of new houses on a historic Bolton site.
The proposal to built more than 200 homes on the former Cream Mills site in Little Lever has long proved contentious and was rejected by Bolton Council last December citing worries about environmental destruction and pressure on infrastructure.
But an inquiry has begun this week after developers appealed the decision.
Addressing the hearing, Little Lever Greenbelt Action Group secretary Steve McKinney said: “Little Lever used to be a small village, it was nearly all farmland.
“Since the 1960s there have been 1000 homes built on the Racecourse Estate alone.”
He added: “Yet there has been no improvement in infrastructure, such as sewage and roads.”
The plans, by developers Watson Homes, have been altered since they were last rejected to try and take some of the concerns on board.
They now comprise of a total of 255 homes at the Cream Mills site at the end of Mytham Road and at land off Hall Lane, 154 of which will be deemed ‘affordable’ and include ‘significant’ plans for open space.
The developers have also pledged to repair the 1936 breach to the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal and have proposed a new two way bridge to replace the existing bridge.
The inquiry, held at Kings Church on Bury Road, Radcliffe, by the government planning inspectorate, heard the proposals in detail as well as arguments both for and against them.
But Mr McKinney warned that if approved, the development could see Little Lever and the surrounding area become even more ‘gridlocked’ by traffic than it is already.
He also warned that the pollution caused by yet more cars could be devastating to the health of the area’s children and that the increased traffic could also be dangerous to youngsters travelling to and from school.
On that note, Mr McKinney also warned that he did not believe the area would have enough school place to accommodate such a drastic increase in its population.
Finally he warned of the damage this could do to the environment and claimed Watson Homes’ ‘charm offensive’ would not be enough to outweigh the potential damage.
Mr McKinney said: “Once the site is developed, it will be lost forever.
“Greenbelt land should be safeguarded for future generations.”
But Watson Homes have said that the proposed development is key to addressing a desperate need for new housing, not only in Little Lever, but across Bolton and all around Greater Manchester.
The company’s representatives told the inquiry that the country’s housing shortage has become a ‘national crisis’ and that on a local level affordable housing stock had ‘collapsed.’
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Bolton Council has continued to defend its decision to refuse the plan and says that the benefits of the scheme ‘do not outweigh the harm.’
Once the inquiry concludes this week, the government’s planning inspectorate will then consider the arguments for and against the development.
A decision will then be announced at a later date.
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