UKIP in Bolton have denied a split in the group after another falling-out between one of its councillors and senior branch members.

Little Lever councillor Paul Richardson has spoken out against an official release by the Bolton branch of UKIP asking for future borough-wide referendums before any large-scale developments are given planning permission.

Chairman of Bolton UKIP Joan Johnson said the call, part of UKIP policy, follows the approval of the 1,700 Rivington Chase development at the former Horwich Loco Works on Thursday and planning permission for a new mosque to be built in Blackburn Road, Astley Bridge.

It was released without the knowledge of Cllr Richardson, who sits on the planning committee and voted on both issues.

After being contacted by The Bolton News, he said his primary concern was the ‘integrity’ of the planning process.

“The planning process allows for comments for or against an application to be registered by anybody whomsoever within a time period and these are taken into consideration in the preparation of an officer’s report”, he said.

“UKIP policy does indeed promote local referendums on major issues but since the planning process already caters for views expressed, referendums on planning applications are neither necessary nor in any event would they be logistically possible to administer.

“Issues such as town centre parking policy would, however, be the kind of thing that referendums would be suitable for.”

Cllr Richardson is one of two UKIP members to sit on Bolton Council, after he and Hulton councillor Diane Parkinson were the party's first to be elected in Greater Manchester this May.

Cllr Richardson was asked to apologise by Ms Johnson in July after he posted on Facebook that female appointments to the cabinet would mean more women to ‘take it in turns to make the tea’ – comments slammed as derogatory to women.

It is understand that Cllr Richardson has not attended any branch meetings since the incident in July.

“There is not a split in Bolton UKIP – there has been a series of minor disagreements following my Facebook post but there is no split”, he added.

UKIP does not operate a ‘whip’ system with its members and Ms Johnson said she did not have to consult with the party’s councillors before issuing a statement.

“If you look at past decisions – for example the Market Place – the views of local businesses and the local community were not taken into account, in my opinion”, she said.

“I haven’t said anything that creates a conflict of interest for Paul’s job or Paul’s position as a councillor — councillors on the planning committee are not there in a political sense.

“There isn’t a problem in Bolton UKIP and there hasn’t been a series of disagreements — there has only been one.

“I made a comment that I didn’t agree with what he said on Facebook, we called him into a committee meeting wanting an apology and we got a ‘regret’. That is the only issue. I am not aware that Paul disagrees with this policy on planning. He has not said anything to me, I have only heard it through a third party.