FEARS have been raised that Horwich could become a commuter town if a new planning application is approved.

First Investments Real Estate Management has submitted plans for 200 houses as part of its regeneration plans for the former British Aerospace site in Lostock.

These would be added to the 1,700 homes which, if approved, will be built at the Rivington Chase development at the former Loco Works site.

The former Aerospace site is designated as “protected employment land” under the council’s development plan. But the proposals shift the balance towards residential use in comparison to the original plans which only made provision for 72 apartments.

The proposals also include an indoor football school, as well as industrial and warehouse units.

Plans for the site date back to 2007, but have effectively been on hold since then.

Community group Horwich First says it does not object to the development of the brownfield site, but fears the plans would be damaging for the town if given the green light as it currently stands.

A spokesman for the group said: “Horwich doesn’t want to be a commuter town. Our primary concern within this revised planning application is the shift from employment land in favour of residential. Horwich already has planning permission for nearly 2,000 houses.

“Like any other town, Horwich needs to strike a balance between housing and accessible employment opportunities. To lose perfectly good employment land to residential is unacceptable and will only result in people having to commute further afield to find jobs, placing even more pressure on our road network and the associated environmental impact from increased pollution.”

Mayor of Horwich, Cllr Steve Rock, said he was also “very concerned” about the plans.

He said: “The problem is all the extra traffic that’s going to be coming on to Beehive Roundabout. Nobody has said what they are going to do to improve it.

“It just seems we are getting more and more houses and the infrastructure isn’t there to cope.”

Horwich ward councillor Kevin McKeon also spoke of his concerns. He said: “I’m concerned that land designated for employment may be used for housing and I, like other councillors in the area, will be looking into it.”

Conor Vallelly, associate at agents HOW Planning LLP said he understood the concerns of residents, but that the application to develop the brownfield site was a result of the market “responding to what’s viable and needed in the area.”

He said: “The mix and the balance between residential and employment is essentially a product of a detailed viability appraisal done by consultants.

“The mix that is in the reserved matters application was agreed with detailed discussions with the council, it’s not just a developer saying ‘this is what we want’, it’s a product of conversations with planning officers.

“The wider issue is that council’s needs to demonstrate five years' housing land supply and, at the moment, I believe Bolton is short of that.”

He added: “It might not be the level of employment that some people might want to see, but we can only deliver on what’s viable and deliverable.”