Town council recommends refusal for first 112 homes at Horwich Loco Works

Bellway Homes' planning application went before the town's planning committee and members recommended them for refusal.

The decision came a week after an update was given on the progress of the 1,700-home plan for the Loco Works by Bolton Council's assistant director of planning Paul Whittingham.

Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Steve Rock, mayor of Horwich, said: "What concerns me is that we have still not had reports of the contamination on the site.

"They will be wanting people to move in while the other developers are working on the rest of the site. Surely the contamination is going to be in the air?

"I worked on the Loco Works myself. I was working on the trains so I did not know what they were dumping but I know several of the people who worked there and they were dumping all sorts of stuff.

"But we also have concerns about new roads, now doctors and new dentists because we are talking 1,700 homes all together.

"If there are two people in each one then that is 3,400 more people in the town and possibly two cars each at a time when Chorley New Road is already busy at rush hour."

Cllr Rock worked as a fitter at the Horwich Loco Works from 1979 to 1982.

He said: "I am ok with the actual concept of building houses on the site. It is part of our heritage and it is sad to see it go but times move on and people need houses.

"But I am not happy with the contamination aspect and the infrastructure."

The council carried out a named vote at the meeting on Thursday.

Cllrs Patricia Homes, Peter Wright, Gordon Stone, Rock, Steve Chadwick, Chris Root and Jim Bullock all voted to recommend refusal.

And Cllrs Kevin McKeon and Mike Jarvis voted against the proposal to recommend refusal while Cllr Joyce Kellett abstained because of her position on Bolton Council's planning committee.

Cllr McKeon said: "In 2014, Horwich Town Council supported the outline application for the development of the whole site.

"In Horwich in general, there is acceptance that the site needs to be developed. There are genuine concerns about contamination and transport.

"I have been unsure as to why there have been delays because back in 2014 it was anticipated that by now there would be people living in houses on the site.

"The assistant director of Bolton Planning (Paul Whittingham) came to explain to us why the delays had happened.

"I am now happy that conditions for the development are ready and I think that we should welcome the news that a start has bene made on the site.

"One of my fears is that it is too easy to be alarmist about the highways and contamination issues. I am confident of the professionalism of the people involved and that these issues can be satisfactorily dealt with.

"In the Bellway application, there is no provision for affordable homes. I regret that there is no provision for social housing.

"However, the problem is that the government is not prepared to support the building of social housing."

Outline permission was given for the 1,700-home site in 2015.

Site inspections confirmed the presence of heavy metals, poly aromatic hydrocarbons, petroleum hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and asbestos containing materials (ACMs).

There was originally meant to be a masterplan for the whole development created by Horwich Vision.

But the group, a joint venture between Bluemantle Developments and Orbit Developments, collapsed.

During his presentation to Horwich Town Council, Mr Whittingham said the project was going to go ahead in a 'phased' manner, with each of the landowners, of which there are at least five, delivering their homes to an agreed schedule.

Mr Whittingham also revealed that a Memorandum of Understanding was being drawn up to ensure all developers commit to work together on a 'site-wide' basis.

And the legal agreement, detailing section 106 contributions to mitigate for impacts on the community, including highways and schools, is also being rewritten.