Bolton currently has a target to build more than 700 new homes every year, with plans possible set to be reviewed later this year.

The targets were discussed after Bolton Council agreed to adopt the Places for Everyone earlier this year, a blueprint for development across Greater Manchester for the next 15 years.

A council meeting this week heard how the change of government at July’s general election could lead to further house building in the borough.

Cllr David Wilkinson, of Westhoughton South, said: “I think we’re all glad that brown land is going to be receiving a higher priority.

“We’re all aware of the problems that go with developing brown land, with Church Wharf and one or two other places in Bolton town centre.”

Bolton Council heard about its current house building targetsBolton Council heard about its current house building targets (Image: Newsquest)

But Cllr Wilkinson said that many of the public were likely to be concerned about the level of house building likely to lie ahead.

This was especially the case given that 205 hectares of land had been removed from the green belt in Bolton under Places for Everyone.

Addressing a full meeting of Bolton Council, Cllr Wilkinson said: “I think it would be useful if we could see some early days clarification in terms of the figures.”

He asked what the mandatory figure for house building in Bolton would be and whether the authority would be prepared to defend attempts to reduce the green belt.

In response, council leader Cllr Nick Peel said that debates over Places for Everyone, which was approved in March this year, were “a separate argument.”

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He said: “Our present housing targets are 787 per annum and, as I’ve said during the debates on Places for Everyone, get set by government and are nothing to do with Places for Everyone.”

Cllr Peel said that he hoped that elected members of the council would avoid rejecting plans for house building in future “knowing full well” they would still be allowed to go ahead on appeal.

He said that Bolton still had a higher level of green belt than most authorities in the region and that planning officers would be starting a local plan review in November this year.

Cllr Peel said there would also be a “huge emphasis” on affordable housing.