Flooding that has been caused by a housing development in Westhoughton has prompted a Bolton MP to get involved.

Bolton West MP Chris Green visited Westhoughton Golf Club to discuss the ongoing flooding issues faced by residents.

The flooding is a result of a blocked culvert on a development by Bellway Homes.

The flood water is spilling onto the golf club’s land and is also restricting access to a public right of way.

Mr Green has met with the chairman of the club and dog walkers to discuss the blocked culvert the issues they are facing.

He is now calling on Bellway to deal with the problem as a matter of urgency.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Green said: “I was pleased to meet with the chairman of the golf club and local dog walkers, who showed me what effect this problem is having day-to-day. 

“With the blocked public right of way and water on the golf club’s land, Bellway Homes need to take action to fix this and to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“I have written to Bellway Homes and Bolton Council to hopefully see some progress made on this long-standing issue and to prevent this from happening again with further house building.”

Fixing the blockage is subject to an open planning application, which would involve altering the landscape.

Once planning permission is granted by the council, Bellway says it will get on with the work at hand.

A spokesperson for Bellway said: “Bellway is fully aware of the flooding issues at Westhoughton Golf Club, and we have been working with the relevant stakeholders to resolve the issue.

“As well as installing a land drain on site in the summer to help take water away from the area, we have also submitted a planning application to undertake works to lift the ground levels in the areas affected which will help resolve the problem.

“Unfortunately, the planning is taking some time to be determined by the local authority so we cannot progress this work until this is complete.”

The council tends not to comment on open planning applications, however the most recent consultee comment that was made on March 23 this year says that changes have to be made in order for permission to be granted.

It said: “Insufficient detail has been provided in the submitted drawings to make a decision on whether the proposals are adequate.

“The drawings do not indicate how the area is to be drained.

“During pre-application discussions it was our understanding that a piped drainage system was to be installed by the applicant, but this is not shown on any of the drawings.

“The whole area needs adequate fall to a drainage point where surface water can be disposed of. 

"These matters must be satisfactorily dealt with prior to the granting of planning permission.”

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