NOW demolition is almost complete it is time to look to the future of the Moor Lane plot.

The immediate future of the site is tied to the annual Food and Drink Festival which returns to the town on Friday, August 24 for four days.

The former bus station plot will be used as storage for the festival for parking vans and lorries as the town centre is transformed for a long weekend.

After that though, nothing immediate is planned for the spot.

However, the Bolton 2030 £1billion masterplan for the town centre has designs on the land.

Housing is expected to be built on the plot as part of the masterplan which will see the town centre regenerated for the future.

There could also be a range of other facilities built with the housing on the site as the masterplan states it could have new food and retail offerings to complement the housing.

The bus station would form part of the Cheadle Square element of the masterplan document which runs from Bolton Market in Ormrod Street up to Deansgate including the court building.

The plan earmarks the bus station for redevelopment for between 2018 and 2020.

The masterplan wil be funded through £100 million of money borrowed by the council and the rest from private sector partners.

In the meantime it was suggested the land be used as a carpark for Bolton Market to help improve footfall which has fallen in recent years.

Time will tell if punters are allowed to park there.