A DATE has been announced for a re-arranged meeting to discuss controversial plans that could see 1,700 homes built on the Horwich Loco Works site.

Plans for the new Rivington Chase community were raised in a heated discussion at a Horwich Town Council meeting with scores of residents unable to air their views in the allotted time.

The council then voted to arrange a separate public meeting to deal solely with the loco works application.

It will be held on Monday, March 17, at the Horwich RMI club in Chorley New Road at 6pm. Developers Horwich Vision will give a presentation at 7pm.

At the town council meeting, most complaints were about traffic and questions were raised about how Horwich’s road network will cope with a huge influx of vehicles.

The developers tried to ease concerns but were heckled by the crowd several times.

Horwich town councillor Joyce Kellett said: “The public feel they have not been properly consulted. We will therefore hold the public meeting which will include a presentation from the developers on all aspects of the development.

“Then councillors will open the debate and residents will be able to talk about their concerns — but points won’t be made directly to the developers because we don’t want a repeat of the last meeting.”

Cllr Kellett added that any points from residents will be raised by councillors for discussion and debate at the next meeting of Horwich Town Council on March 20, where the council will make its recommendation on whether the £260 million development should be approved or rejected by Bolton Council’s planning department.