FIVE luxury homes face demolition after planning chiefs refused a developer’s revised proposals.

Bolton Council’s planning committee threw out Sparkle Development’s latest application which suggested changes to some of the mansions at Grundy Fold Farm, on the outskirts of Horwich.

The developer's bid for retrospective planning permission of the properties — which have all been sold — was turned down.

The next step for the council will be to serve an enforcement notice which will give the firm six months to begin demolition. But they will have the right to appeal.

Director Ian Holden offered his “heartfelt and sincere apologies” for his involvement in the “planning nightmare”.

But he claimed changes to the original plans were made on the basis of a verbal agreement with Bolton Council’s former head of planning — and they continued with them on this basis, unaware he had left the authority.

However planners said the developer’s plans were not close to being acceptable and cast doubt on his claims of an agreement with officers.

Mr Holden told the committee: "I offer no excuse for this breach in planning procedure, but there is information and mitigating circumstances I would like to give.”

He went on to tell how, following the original planning permission, his firm had meetings with Bolton Council’s former head of planning.

The presence of a geographical fault line on the site was discussed.

Mr Holden continued: “At that meeting he suggested that the geographical fault line was indeed very special circumstances and as long as we move the properties and don’t step outside of the ‘red edge’ (of the plans) he would have no problem and treated it as very special circumstances.”

Mr Holden said that at the time he had some serious health issues and the project was taken on by the company’s then agents.

And on the eve of yesterday’s meeting he said he received a report from a senior lecturer and consultant geologist at the University of Bolton in support of his claims of a fault running through the location of the original farmhouse.

A previous report had been included as an appendix, but not been put forward as "very special circumstances" or treated as such by officers.

Mr Holden also said there was public perception that Grundy Fold was a “pretty working farm” when it had an history of industrial and commercial use.

And referring to letters received backing the scheme he said there had been “overwhelming support from those neighbours most affected by this development” who welcomed the changes to the landscape and saw them as an improvement

However Cllr Nick Peel told the committee that negotiations with the developer had “not gone to the level we thought we would”.

He said: “The changes they are proposing are not good enough. It’s an application that bears little or no resemblance to what was agreed in June, 2014.”

He added: “I do find it quite extraordinary that an experienced company and planning consultant would take an alleged verbal understanding that it was okay to completely change an application.

“I’ve never been in this business in my life, but I’m sure the least I would get was something in writing. I find it extraordinary. It’s quite sad we are in this situation.”

Cllr Norman Critchley said that in his own experience of the building trade over “many many years” led him to doubt the claims being made by Mr Holden.

He said: “Never, when applying to change something have I spoken to a planning officer and they have said "yes". They have never ever said that, they have said quite clearly "if you want to do it — submit it. I can’t believe a planning office would say that.”

Cllr Andy Morgan said the council’s officers had worked for “many hours” to find a solution with the developers, but it could not be found.

He said: “These plans don’t meet our council officers' aspirations or the planning committee, it’s not like we haven’t made that effort. They have had numerous meetings with them to come up with plans we as a planning committee could give some consideration to, but it has not happened.”

He continued: “The most important thing to stress is that residents and developers across the borough is if they build something different from that approved the council will take that appropriate action.

“If we don’t we might as well pack up, go home, abandon planning permission regulations and watch the chaos commence.”