A COUNCILLOR is to call for an urgent meeting to discuss Bolton’s “brownfield-first” housing strategy after claiming members were not being kept properly informed.

Cllr Norman Critchley says it is “unacceptable” that members of the chamber have not been “kept in the picture” over whether the authority will bid for monies from a £50 land fund created as part of the government’s Greater Manchester Housing Package.

And he says councillors are also unaware if any work is being undertaken by officers ahead of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework Report (GMSF) scheduled for July.

A motion tabled by Cllr Critchley for Wednesday’s full council meeting says: “The government has announced a Greater Manchester housing package which includes £50m for a land fund to help councils prepare for brownfield housing development. And once again members have not been informed if this council has taken any action to obtain monies from this new land fund.”

He continued: “We are unaware if there is a team of senior officers who are already investigating brownfield sites, and reassessing our allocations plan and core strategy, together with new roads and the necessary infrastructure, and this is unacceptable..

And he is asking the mayor to call a special council meeting to allow for a “frank discussion” on the issue.

Speaking to The Bolton News Cllr Critchley said the brownfield-first strategy was an “essential policy”. He said: “I think it’s important councillors are kept in the picture with every kind of development work going on. It is unacceptable if something is being done and members don’t know.

And on the “urgent” need for a detailed housing strategy Cllr Critchley told The Bolton News: “ We have got a responsibility as councillors to do our best for all the residents of Bolton. Where are we going to build, and how are we going to make sure that everyone in Bolton has a decent house to live in?”

However Martin Donaghy, Bolton Council’s executive member for strategic housing and planning said the strategy had been discussed at the regeneration and resources portfolio holder’s meeting in December 2017. He added: “The government fund at the moment is at a very early stage, we don’t have all the details of how we can access that at the moment.

“That will come on-stream over the next couple of months Bolton will certainly be putting its bid in for remediation of brownfield sites, they are our priority at the moment.”