BOLTON Council has given the go ahead for 130 houses to be built on the former Bolton Community College site.

The disused Horwich campus, in Victoria Road, was given outline planning permission for 140 houses in June last year.

And a further application was then submitted by Jones Homes for 130 houses, which has now been approved by the council's planning committee.

The site will comprise of a mix of two storey detached and semi-detached houses, 16 two storey town houses and one three storey, one bedroomed apartment building.

The loss of the college’s former playing field has been contentious, with residents calling for it to be preserved as a leisure facility for the community following the college's closure two years ago.

At the planning meeting Horwich North East councillor Richard Silvester said: “I’m specifically objecting to the college field part of the site being used, not the footprint of the college itself.

“If the number of properties were reduced to 100 it would save the field from development.

“This is the best solution. I believe where there is a will there is a way.”

But Cllr Nick Peel said the suggested alternative would make the site “undevelopable”.

He added: “If we do not allocate enough land, preferably brown field, greenbelt land will be under threat and that is the reality and what our council and every other council in the country is facing.

“There is an enormous amount of pressure on us.

“We need to ensure there is enough developer land.

“I understand absolutely that ward councillors would want to fight for their local amenities.

“But there are no grounds to reduce the number of houses — reducing them would make the site undevelopable.

“We should stick with our outline permission and approve it.”

Cllr Andy Morgan said: “The developer has done what we asked. It meets all our guidelines.”