A NEW residential area designed to be in keeping with Bolton’s mill town heritage could be approved this week.

Plans have been submitted for a 262 home development including apartments and town houses in the north west corner of the town centre.

This application forms part of the Croal Valley portion of the council’s £1 billion masterplan to regenerate Bolton town centre.

Applicant Forshaw Land & Property Group Ltd said the design seeks to link to the “mill vernacular” of Bolton ­— mimicking the town’s large brick buildings with regular patterns of window.

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If the plans are approved tomorrow this part of the Croal Valley area ­— the site bordered by Pool Street, St George’s Road, Noel Street and St Helena Road ­— would be flattened, with the exception of Claremont Church, and four new buildings erected.

Bolton Council has received one letter regarding the application from Claremont Church. Officers said it “read like an objection” raising concerns about the height of the buildings and the issue of parking.

The plans propose 262 new homes but allow for only 45 car parking spaces. Officers responded to this saying: “Officers consider that the ratio of parking spaces to dwellings strikes an appropriate balance between the need to encourage a modal shift towards the use of more sustainable methods of transport and the developer’s need to market the property to some residents who may wish to own a car.”

The planning application for a new block on St George’s Road would contain 114 homes including one and two-bedroom flats and three-bedroom duplex apartments.

It would be eight storeys high, rising to 10 storeys at the “tower” on the corner with Pool Street.

The ground floor of the building would have space for small shops and there would also be a private cinema screening room for residents to use and roof terrace.

Two of the buildings would be a total of 144 one and two-bedroom flats over eight storeys. These buildings would run along Bark Street and Back Bark Street and both be eight storeys high. Both would feature a private cinema room for residents.

The last structure is a group of four three-storey, three-bedroom townhouses with their own parking spaces.