PLANS to build 115 new homes by knocking down former university halls of residence near Bolton town centre will be discussed this week.

The council’s planning committee will decide whether to give the green light to an initial proposal to demolish the Hollins Hall of Residence in Radcliffe Road.

The University of Bolton, which owns the site, previously applied to build 185 homes on its former Chadwick Street campus but withdrew the application in October last year.

Bolton Parish School is due to relocate to the same site after the council approved an application for a new primary school and nursery earlier this year.

This new outline application for the 3.19-hectare site proposes replacing the three vacant three-storey blocks with a mixture of one to three-bedroom flats and houses as well as a three-storey apartment block.

Acting chairman of Bolton Civic Trust Richard Shirres said that the density of houses per hectare “sounds promising” and would welcome the development as long as it will be well designed.

He said: “We desperately need within the kilometre radius of the town centre to increase the quality of accommodation. This is exactly what we need if it’s well designed and it creates good liveable spaces with green infrastructure.”

Mr Shirres added that he was not aware of any heritage issues at the site of the proposed development which is situated near Fred Dibnah’s old stone house.

At least 15 of units within the proposed development are expected to be classed as affordable housing as a viability report states that the development could meet the provision required by the council.

The main access point will be the existing Radcliffe Road entrance but some private parking spaces belonging to the development will be accessed at the end of Crawford Avenue.

Plans to create a public open space with a children’s play area involve removing 45 trees, including seven cherry trees, but the majority of trees would be retained and some would be replanted.

A total of four objections to the proposed development were received from residents living nearby.

The key concern raised was the increased traffic caused by additional cars accessing the development and the new school adding to the current congestion issues in the area.

The officer’s report states that the proposed development of the site would comply with council policy and recommends approving the application subject to certain conditions.

The planning committee will meet at 2pm on Thursday to make a decision.