THE developer that wants to demolish the historic Beehive Mills says it will not be viable for the 121 homes planned to meet affordable housing requirements.

When outline planning permission for the development was granted earlier this year, it was agreed that 15 per cent of the homes would be affordable.

Landowner Arndale Properties also agreed to contribute £249,493 towards primary education, £272,697 towards secondary education and £27,104 health provision.

Now, the housing developer which wants to acquire the land, says the development would not go ahead if it had to make these contributions.

Countryside Properties states that "abnormal costs" associated with the development are significantly more than originally anticipated.

This includes the remediation of the former industrial site, acoustic glazing to elevations facing the railway line and works for highway adoption which would result in an additional £1.8 million of development costs.

The proposed development comprises 36 two-bedroom, 78 three-bedroom and seven four-bedroom dwellings together with the retention of the mill lodge as a feature.

There will also be a public open space on the site which means the developer may no longer be required to contribute £111,054 towards an external provision as originally agreed.

Contributions and affordable housing requirements are set out in Section 106 agreements based on council policy. In Bolton, 15 per cent of homes in brownfield developments should be affordable.

The planning officer said there is no affordable housing requirement in this case because the plans involve demolishing a vacant building and replacing it with a new building.

This is because the development qualifies for vacant building credit, a national policy to incentivise brownfield development on sites containing vacant buildings.

However, there is a "clawback clause" which means that the council could still ask for some contributions if the additional costs were over-estimated.

Great Lever ward councillor Madeline Murray said she was "almost ecstatic" about the plans but would be disappointed if all planning obligations are removed.

She said: “I would be delighted if it went through because we want new housing in Great Lever. The mill’s no use to us anyway as a community and it’s brownfield site which is better than greenfield. People want to live in the same area that they were brought up in. I wouldn’t be happy about not having 15 per cent affordable housing. I would have preferred to keep the [affordable] housing and give up the [Section] 106."

Councillors are due to make a decision on the application at a meeting on Thursday.