A plan to transform a terraced house into an eight-bedroom shared house has provoked debates about the state of parking places.

The proposal to create the new house in multiple occupation on Tonge Moor Road was put before the council for debate earlier this week.

But though a report said the new shared house would mean a “relatively low take up of vehicles”, concerns were raised about the effects on parking places.

Cllr David Grant, of Horwich South and Blackrod, said: “We are behind the rest of the country when it comes to our maximum parking policy.

“I’ve stated previously it should be a minimum parking policy and that our local plan should be updated.”

The plans have been put before Bolton Council (Image: Bolton Council)

He added: “We are behind the times, and I keep on pressing that.”

Cllr Grant said that the plan for Tonge Moor Road could mean and extra four to eight vehicles being parked, despite claims car take up would be low.

Cllr Anne Galloway, of Heaton, Lostock and Chew Moor also raised questions about the maximum parking policy and how schemes like these fitted into it.  

The council’s planning committee had gathered to discuss the proposal after a report by officers had recommended that the scheme be approved.

It accepted that the site did have parking and that the plans did not include any new spaces but said it would benefit from nearby transport links to Bolton town centre.

The report said: “The property does not currently benefit from parking and none is proposed.

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“However, it is located in what can be considered a sustainable location, on a main arterial road immediately adjacent to a bus stop with a frequent service into Bolton town centre.

“For this reason and taking into account the generally low car ownership rates of HMO residents, it is not considered that the development would have an unacceptable impact on highway safety or that the residual cumulative impacts on the road network would be severe.”

The council’s highways engineering team had also said they did not have objections to the scheme.

The committee voted unanimously that the scheme be deferred for decision at a later date.