A GREEN belt planning application has been rejected by the council for a fifth time.

Plans to demolish outbuildings on land in Shepherds Drive, off Chorley Old Road, Horwich, to build a new three bedroom house were submitted at the beginning of August by an applicant recorded as 'Mrs Miller'.

It was the fifth attempt to build a house on the site since 2016, with all of them now having been rejected by Bolton Council.

It received nine letters of objection from the public with one saying, "inappropriate development in the green belt" and another stating "no very special circumstances have been provided to outweigh the harm to the green belt."

A spokesman for the planning agent, Ronson Building Design Ltd, said: "There have been a number of non-material objections raised, but we cannot respond to these as they do not relate to planning policy and seem to relate more to long standing civil disputes.

"We feel the subjective and political element of consultation can be rightfully avoided with an appeal to the planning inspectorate, where we hope to receive a more objective decision."

Members of Horwich Town Council said they were not wholly against the plans.

A spokesman for Horwich and Blackrod First Independents said: "We raised no objections to the development, which was discussed at length.

"Town councillors acknowledged this was within green belt area, but the buildings in question are a blot on the landscape, which in the past had been widely used, so they should be considered as permanent structures and as such a brownfield site within the green belt.

"Many of the councillors felt this was an appropriate use for the site and would be an improvement for residents."

Horwich north east councillor, Richard Silvester, was glad to see the plans refused again.

He said: "I hope that the applicant will now get the message that there are no very special circumstances which have been proved as to why such a house should be built at the location.

"Protecting our Green Belt is very important and I will continue to object to such applications."

A planning statement with the application explained the reasons for the refusal as: "The proposed development represents inappropriate development within the Green Belt and the applicant has provided no very special circumstances to outweigh the harm that would be caused to the green belt."