INFRASTRUCTURE including schools, health centres and roads won’t be able to cope with proposed new housing in Astley Bridge, a councillor has claimed.

As part of the controversial Greater Manchester Spatial Framework, 1,200 new homes could potentially be built in the ward.

Sites are earmarked for land at Belmont Road and Thornham Drive.

At Wednesday night’s meeting of the Astley Bridge Area Forum, Cllr John Walsh called on residents to oppose any plans for the land, saying that local roads and services won’t be able to cope with the extra demand the houses will bring.

The GMSF is a joint plan to manage the supple of land for jobs and new homes across Greater Manchester.

Cllr Walsh was particularly concerned about the impact of more traffic on the junction at Asda on Blackburn Road, stating that the last time checks were done it was the most polluted junction in Bolton.

He said: “None of the roads are fit for purpose, the road is not fit for purpose.

“Primary schools are overcrowded, health centres are at capacity. There’s just not the infrastructure to provide for these houses.

“Every extra car we put at that junction adds to pollution and adds to congestion.”

In December last year, more than 250 people turned up to High Lawn School to hear more about the plans for the houses in Astley Bridge and how they could be affected.

A consultation was held on the draft GMSF from October last year in to January with the intention of comments from it being considered and used to inform how the plan is taken forward.

A consultation will be held in to the framework’s ‘publication plan’ this summer before it is submitted to the Secretary State at the end of 2017 before potentially being adopted in 2018.

Cllr Walsh said: “There will be a further consultation. I know there’s a huge number of residents from Astley Bridge who opposed it.

“It’s important that at every stage we make our point.”

Cllr Walsh said that around 250 to 300 people from Astley Bridge provided comments to the consultation to oppose the plans.

The projects would also be built on green belt land and Cllr Walsh called for this to be protected as well as saying that people who potentially lived there would not be able to get about.

He said: “Lets not build houses if people can’t get from their home to their places of work.”

The plan proposes more than 16,000 houses to be built across Bolton, including 7,000 on green belt land.

Last month, Bolton Council’s Liberal Democrat Leader, Cllr Roger Hayes, called for the authority to withdraw from the housing blueprint but this was defeated at a meeting of the full council.

The plan is being worked on by the ten local authorities in Greater Manchester and sets out how much housing and employment land is needed up to 2035.

Chequerbent, Hulton Park and Bowlands Hey are other potential sites across Bolton that have been earmarked.

The plan also identifies the infrastructure necessary.