Bolton Church Wharf land to be sold at '£1 per phase'

The Church Wharf site off the River Croal in the town centre has been earmarked for a major scheme to build a 124-bedroom hotel with more than 400 new homes.

A land sale to developers Watson Homes was provisionally agreed earlier this year and Bolton Council is now set to discuss plans to sell the land at £1 per phase to get the scheme moving.

The phases indicating stages include the development of  flats, creation of retail space and building of hotel.

Council leader Cllr Nick Peel said: “This is about us finally getting on with the development of the site.

“We as a council share the frustration with the public that things don’t always come about as fast as they should but I can say now that this is going to get done, this is not pie in the sky stuff.”

A map showing the different phases of the project (Image: JM Architects)

He added: “It all comes back to the point of all this which is bringing spending power back to the town centre.”

The plans for Church Wharf have long been in the works, with the council having entered into an open agreement with previous developers Muse back in 2018.

But after having stalled for several years, the proposals were given a new lease of life when new developers expressed an interest in the site in early 2023.

Around this time demolition work entered its final phase along the River Croal ahead of building work taking place.

Bolton Council agreed the provisional land sale to Watson Homes in March this year, which a cabinet meeting set to discuss the sale further later this month.

The land is currently vacant (Image: Newsquest)

The current proposal for the site will see Watson Homes build the new hotel along with a total of 414 homes across 12 blocks.

Building work will be carried out across four phases, with Bolton Council advised to sell the land at £1 for phases one and two and then another £1 for phase three and four.

Cllr Peel said that he hopes the development will work alongside similar projects in Bolton town centre like the new housing on Moor Lane and the redevelopment of Crompton Place.

He hopes that together they will help to revive the wider economy in the area, drawing on the example of the restaurant industry which depends on supply and demand.

He said: “The ultimate aim is that the empty units that exist around Bolton town centre, some need some work some don’t, will be filled as we have more people living in the town centre and more shoppers coming in.”

A report put before Bolton Council said that to do nothing with the site would mean it could stay vacant “potentially subject to antisocial behaviour and further deterioration.”

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Selling it on the open market would mean risking buyers “land banking” meaning they could buy the land but not develop it while an open tender would mean starting the process again.

The report instead recommended the option of selling the site on a phase-by-phase basis at £1 per phase.

It said: “This approach, by way of a conditional land sale agreement on a phased basis, enables the council to bring about the transformational change envisaged for the Town Centre Strategy in currently, the most timely manner.

It added: “Watson group have already completed one town centre residential development and are presently delivering a number of other residential developments within the borough including the Creams Mill/Hall Lane residential development in Little Lever.”

Bolton Council is set to discuss the plans at a cabinet meeting on Monday, July 22.