A site earmarked for a new primary school has been lost because planners failed to acquire land promised by a developer. Bolton Council’s chair of planning said he was ‘absolutely appalled’ that the authority was having to relinquish its rights to a large plot of land within the Beaumont Rise housing development. A meeting of the council’s planning committee heard the issue centred around a housing scheme near Wigan Road and Hulton Lane, which was originally approved in 1988, and built over the next 15 years.
There was a legal agreement within the planning conditions to transfer 1.5 hectares of the development site to the council for a one-form entry primary school. However, that agreed land transfer did not happen.
At the time the plot was described as ‘land lying between Knutshaw Bridge and Everbrom Road’. READ MORE: Bolton Council pledges improved planning application process Bolton Council owes up to £450k in unpaid planning refunds This year, the landowner, Jones Homes, sought legal advice on the situation and now claims that the land transfer agreement does not satisfy current legal requirements for planning obligations as the transfer was not necessary. They also claim the obligation was no longer enforceable given the time passed.
Chair of planning, Cllr John Walsh , said: “I am absolutely appalled that a site of 1.55 hectares which should have been in the ownership of this authority was never actually transferred. It is not the only site where this sit.