COUNCILLORS have pledged to 'stick to their guns' as they objected to a 58-home plan for the second time.

The planning application for Hartley's Farm in Westhoughton was resubmitted to Bolton Council after a first identical application was refused by Bolton Council's planning committee last year.

In a statement submitted with the proposal, developer Hollins Wingates revealed it would appeal the against the refusal.

And at Monday's meeting of Westhoughton Town Council, members voted unanimously to opposed the plans on the grounds of loss of green space and increased traffic.

Cllr David Wilkinson said: "Anybody who knows the road knows you take extreme caution on this road.

"You have to weave in and out especially when the people in the terraced properties have to park on the street.

"It is a very restrictive road in terms of width and accessibility. The proposed access is still blind.

"The other issue is the loss of green space, environmental issues, impact on wildlife and flooding arrangements.

"The noise impact upon any development against the motorway would be absolutely insane. 

"This is an attempt to frighten the planning authority into throwing in the towel.

"The threat is the entire Ditcher's Farm site. If this was even thought to be approved then we would see the rest of the Ditcher's Farm site on the planning application list at some stage."

Cllr Gill Williams was puzzled as to how the developers worked out the number of cars that would be brought to the development, which was calculated at 29.

She said: "I don't know where they get this equation from that when you have 58 homes you should halve the number of houses to get the number of cars on the development.

"I would have thought these days you would times it by one and a half for example to get the number of cars.

"It seems a large number of homes for Hartley's Farm. That road is a nightmare as it is."

Cllr Derek Gradwell said: "I believe that we should stick to our guns on this particular point.

"My only concern however is due to the planning officer's report for the last application, which recommended approval, I have concerns that we might lose this appeal.

"But I do think we should stick to our guns."

The Westhoughton community has seen two large developments approved on appeal in recent months — 129 homes at Bowlands Hey and 300 at Lee Hall.