Long awaited plans to build a new housing estate over the site of a former primary school have been approved this week.

The development will see 40 new homes built on land that used to be occupied by SS Osmund’s RC Primary School in Breightmet and will include 16 two-and three-bedroom houses with 24 one and two-bedroom flats.

This comes after a long process of planning and deliberation around the new homes, with previous bids causing concerns about the loss of green spaces and people in other nearby homes losing their privacy, according to architect’s firm Bernard Taylor Partnership.

A statement from the company said: “The original proposal would have resulted in the loss of a large amount of trees on the site and would likely have had a detrimental visual impact on the green character of the site.

“In addition, the proposed 2.5 storey dwellings raised concerns about overlooking and retaining the privacy of surrounding dwellings.”

It added: “The current proposal aims to address the above reasons for refusal and present a viable project proposal which would retain the green nature of the site and respect the privacy of existing residents.”

The Bolton News:

A total of 40 new homes will be built

Previous bids had been thrown out by Bolton Council in 2007 and 2008 because of these concerns before another was made in February 2020.

The plans were debated at Bolton Council in June 2020, where Cllr Sean Hornby raised concerns about traffic at the site.

The decision was then delegated to the director of planning and now, more than two years on, the project has been given final approval as long as the builders follow certain conditions, such as replacing trees and shrubs.

The final decision was made on Monday June 13 and the new estate will now be built on land in between Blenheim Road, St Osmunds Drive and Brieghmet Drive.

The council also ruled that none of the houses are to be moved into until the new access roads and footpaths leading to them are complete.