Ruling on Chorley Old Road, Smithills block of flats plan

The plan had originally intended to build the block of 26 new studio flats on land at the junction Chorley Old Road and New Barn Street in Smithills.

But after a public meeting of around 50 people turned out to oppose the scheme, Bolton Council has now refused it.

Cllr Garry Veevers, of Smithills, said: “Obviously I’m not opposed to building new houses.

“We’ve got a shortage of housing and we need more young people to get on the property ladder.

The plan would have included 26 new flats (Image: RA Design)

“However, 26 new apartments on that piece of land did not seem feasible and it was rejected under delegated powers by the council.”

He added: “It was a bit of a non-starter really; it was just the wrong development for that area.”

The public meeting was held on Friday February 9 and was attended by people from across the area including Cllr Veever’s colleague Cllr Roger Hayes and Bolton West MP Chris Green.

The land at the junction of Chorley Old Road and New Barn Street (Image: Google Maps)

As well as the public meeting, the plan also prompted 39 letters of objection with as many as 111 people signing three petitions making their opposition known.

The objections they raised ranged from the lack of parking spaces, the height of the building being out of keeping with the area and the pressure extra people would put on services.

The plan has now been rejected (Image: RA Design)

But the site itself had been classified as brownfield land and Cllr Veevers says there may yet be further plans in store for it in the future.

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He said: “I think the majority of people were realistic, they know that the developer has bought this land, that’s its not exactly green space land and that eventually he will want to do something with it.”

He added: “I think it would be silly if we didn’t expect something to come back in some form.”

Bolton Council officers ultimately decided to refuse the scheme, citing the effect it would have had on the character of the area and its impact on privacy and living conditions.

They also expressed concerns about the apparent lack of space in the flats themselves and the impact the development could have had on traffic.