PLANNING officers will decide whether plans to extend Kearsley Medical Centre should be approved.

The plans are to build a first floor extension at the front of the building, in order to increase staff office space. This will allow existing office space on the ground floor to be reallocated for practice purposes.

It is proposed that the extension will extend over the existing car park and dormers will also be installed to allow more space.

The plans have been submitted to Bolton Council by Urban Design and Consult (UDC) on behalf of Kearsley Medical Centre.

UDC have admitted that the although the extension would allow for more patients, it would reduce the amount of parking.

It is believed that the amount of spaces would reduce from 22 to 20.

In their design access statement, they wrote: "In January 2019 local residents and patients were invited to a presentation at a discussion evening at the Medical Centre.

"The results of this were very positive and much of the feedback was taken on board and used to inform various points in the design.

"However one sticking point was relating to access to parking on site and its effect on the surrounding streets. As expanding the centre will increase the need for parking space, this will increase the problem.

"However, due to the space restrictions of the site it is not currently possible to increase parking provisions on site."

The plans have been delegated which means planning officers will make the decision on whether it is approved.