CLOSE to 7,000 new homes could be built in the Bolton borough over the next two decades — including a 1,700-house estate in Westhoughton — if proposals are approved.

Developers have suggested 70 major house-building projects across Bolton as part of a Greater Manchester-wide ‘call for sites’ aimed at addressing the region’s growing housing needs.

The biggest proposed project suggests building 1,700 new homes on a greenfield site near to the Chequerbent area of Westhoughton.

At least 13 of the suggested developments in Bolton are earmarked for green belt land, with other projects suggested for open protected sites and spaces of biological importance.

The Greater Manchester Spatial Framework is a plan being put together by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority — which brings together the region’s 10 local councils — aimed at identifying potential sites for building new homes before 2035.

As part of the planning process, the GMCA has asked developers, landowners and agents to suggest what could potentially be built on certain plots of land and how easy it would be to get projects going.

In 30 of the 70 listed Bolton-based projects, numbers of potential housing units are listed and this totals 6,798 units across the borough.

But there are 40 other proposed developments where no suggested number of units has been suggested — meaning the overall total could be significantly higher.

The list seen by The Bolton News only refers to the first ‘call for sites’ which relates to proposals submitted before the end of February — with more suggestions on the way via a second batch of potential projects submitted by firms between March and June.

A third and final batch of proposals, made in July and August, will be published in October and they will all be used to form a draft allocations plan for the region which will go out for consultation later that month.

Within the first list of suggested Bolton developments, the largest plan concerns a potential 1,700 house estate earmarked for land to the east of Westhoughton and south of the Chequerbent roundabout.

Local residents and politicians are already locked in a battle with developer Persimmon to try to stop plans to build 300 homes in the area — on the Lee Hall site, with an appeal set to be heard next year.

And they will be dismayed to hear of the wider plans for a huge number of houses on the greenfield site.

The proposal has been put forward to the GMCA by planning firm Turley on behalf of the landowner Peel Holdings.

The submission says: “The site could deliver around 1,700 homes of mixed size, type and tenure with a focus on good quality family homes. The new homes will be suitable for delivery by national housebuilders and/or small- to medium-sized builders. The site could also incorporate plots for self-building.”

The document also suggests there is nothing to stop building work starting straight away, with comments that the majority of the land is under the control of ‘willing landowners with a track record for bringing sites forward for development.’

It also states that ‘there are no legal or ownership constraints which might present an obstacle to the early delivery of the site.’

The news that more of Westhoughton could be swallowed up for housing has angered Bolton West MP Chris Green.

Mr Green has backed residents in the fight against the Lee Hall development, but said the plans listed in the GMCA document are “far greater than anything people feared” in the area.

He said: “This proposed development of 1,700 houses is untenable for the area.

“There is enough concern around the current plans for 300 homes at Lee Hall, which we already believe is too many in terms of putting pressure on the local transport infrastructure which cannot cope as it stands.

“These latest proposals are far greater than anything people had feared on the site and it is very disappointing to see them being suggested.

“We are in danger of seeing our area become one big commuter-belt suburb of Manchester, with areas like Westhoughton, Atherton and Leigh merging together as a huge housing estate and our green spaces quickly disappearing.”

Mr Green was critical of the way the GMCA Spatial Framework is being put together.

He said: “I think the spatial framework should be looking at areas closer to the city Manchester for developing as the houses are needed for people working in the city.

“But instead it looks as though developers and authorities are going for the easy hit of identifying green spaces in areas like ours, regardless of the huge impact on local residents.”

A spokesman for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority stressed that the call for sites map features only suggested sites, but that these will be used to create an official draft allocation plan for house building across Greater Manchester up to the year 2035.

Across this week, The Bolton News will be continuing to look at the proposed house-building sites being put forward for the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework in more detail.