MORE than 30 homes could be built on the site of an old mill if planners give a developer’s proposals the green light.

Wiggett Construction Group’s application for 35 homes at the site of Perseverance Mill, in Westhoughton goes before Bolton Council’s planning committee this week.

Recent proposals to build in the town have been thrown out by councillors, including those for 174 homes at Bowlands Hey and 58 at Hartleys Farm.

But while those fell foul of the authority’s green belt policy and the plans for Perseverance Mill site, which was largely cleared in 2016. are expected to prove less controversial.

Westhoughton town councillor Ryan Battersby said it was right for the council to pursue a “brownfield-first” policy.

He said: ““It’s definitely the right way forward. Brownfield-first should always be the policy the council adopts, to protect the greenfields.

“But we do need to build houses and if we build them to meet the quota it should be on brownfield sites.

“Perseverance Mill is a large site so houses built on that should help meet our required quota for houses and help to save the green belt.

“It reduces the argument to build on green belt if we’re already building on brownfield.”

Cllr Battersby added that, while he had no objections to the scheme, he hoped the developer would take steps to mitigate disruption during the construction phase.

He said: “I hope they are conscientious towards existing residents, because there will be a lot of HGV traffic and movement , so any developer should bear that in mind.”

Fellow Westhoughton town councillor, Bernadette Eckersley-Fallon echoed Cllr Battersby’s comments. She said she opposed all greenbelt building and brownfield sites were always her preference.

The total number of houses included in the project has been reduced from 36 to 35 due after the site layout was redrawn due to a nearby MOT centre raised concerns over access to its premises.

Under the council’s core strategy formula, Wiggett Construction would pay more than £730,000 into affordable housing, education and open space.

But the company is instead proposing a contribution of £20,000 due to the costs of developing the site and anticipated sales. However it has agreed to a “clawback scheme” should the site prove more lucrative

A council officer’s report concludes that the plans are “positive” and will “not only provide much needed housing in the borough, but will also develop a vacant and derelict site”.

If planning permission is granted the scheme is expected to be completed by April 2021.