Spa Mill Spa Road Bolton BL1 4AG
Refused on 29 June 2026
Delegated (officer decision)3 reasons for refusal
Boundary © HM Land Registry, © Ordnance Survey · details
This information is subject to Crown copyright and database rights 2026 and is reproduced with the permission of HM Land Registry. The polygons (including the associated geometry, namely x, y co-ordinates) are subject to Crown copyright and database rights 2026 Ordnance Survey AC0000851063. Conditions of use.
Proposal
CHANGE OF USE FROM VACANT LAND TO HAND CAR WASH AND VALETING FACILITY (SUI GENERIS) TOGETHER WITH ERECTION OF TIMBER CABIN, CANOPIES, BOUNDARY FENCING AND GATES, DRAINAGE INFRASTRUCTURE AND ASSOCIATED VEHICLE ACCESS AND CIRCULATION ARRANGEMENTS.
- Received
- 25 March 2026
- Decision level
- Delegated (officer decision)
- Ward
- Queens Park & Central
- Agent
- True North Designs
- ReceivedReceived25 Mar
- ValidatedValidated25 Mar
- Consult.Consultation22 Apr
- TargetTarget Date6 May
- DecidedDecided29 Jun
Decided in 96 days (council typically 56)
About this application
This is a full planning application for a change of use at Spa Mill Spa Road Bolton BL1 4AG. Bolton has handled 3,200 applications of this type. This one was decided in 96 days, 6 weeks longer than Bolton's typical decision time. There are no previous applications recorded at this address. In the past year there have been 146 applications across Queens Park & Central. We hold 1,099 applications in total for the BL1 postcode area.
81% of full applications at Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council were approved. Across all application types, the council typically decides in about 8 weeks (median).
Based on decided applications received in the last 3 years.Planning something similar? See what gets approved on your street
Why it was refused
- By reason of its design and materials and the nature of the use, the proposal would not protect, strengthen and enhance the distinctive townscape qualities of Bolton town centre, would not conserve and enhance the special nature of the conservation areas and listed buildings, and would not ensure that development along the gateways to the town centre enhances the townscape through the use of high quality design and improves street frontages, contrary to Policy TC11 of Bolton's Core Strategy and Policy JP-P1 of Places for Everyone.
- By severing the closest town centre access point between Spa Road and Queens Park, the proposed development would reduce pedestrian permeability and access between the area and the civic and retail core and reduce connectivity between Queens Park the rest of the town centre, contrary to Policies TC6 and TC10 of Bolton's Core Strategy and Policies JP- C5 and JP-C8 of Places for Everyone.
- Insufficient information has been provided by the applicant in relation to potential noise impacts from the proposed development on the approved and under-construction residential development adjacent, to allow the proposal to be appropriately assessed in terms of Policy CG4 of Bolton's Core Strategy.
From the council's decision notice.
Application details
- Postcode
- BL1 4AG
- Application type
- Full Planning Permission
- Scale / size
- Small
- Parish
- Not Applicable
Planning application dates
- Date validated
- 25 March 2026
- Consultation expiry
- 26 May 2026
- Consultation start
- 1 April 2026
- Consultation end
- 22 April 2026
- Neighbour consultation start
- 1 April 2026
- Neighbour consultation end
- 22 April 2026
- Last date for comments
- 26 May 2026
- Target decision date
- 6 May 2026
- Permission expires
- 29 June 2029
Applicant and agent
- Applicant
- Private applicant
- Agent
- True North Designs
- Architect profile
- TRUE NORTH ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN LTD
- Agent address
- 24 Kittlegairy View Peebles EH45 9LZ
Planning decision
- Case officer
- Martin Mansell
- Statutory period
- 42 days
Publicity
- Site notice end
- 26 May 2026
Additional information
- Planning Portal ID
- PP-14805638
- Documents
- 10
- Constraints
- 12
Site constraints
Designations that overlap or adjoin the site outline.
- Brownfield land register: Spa Mill, Spa Road, Bolton, BL1 4AGRegister site at or near this address · +1 more
- Flood zone 1: Low probability (rivers and sea)
Not published by this council, so not checked: Article 4 directions and tree preservation orders. Ask the council if these matter.
Also checked, none recorded (21)
flood storage areas, conservation areas, listed buildings, green belt, scheduled monuments, World Heritage Sites, World Heritage Site buffer zones, registered parks and gardens, registered battlefields, Heritage at Risk entries, nutrient neutrality catchments, national parks, National Landscapes, SSSIs, Special Areas of Conservation, Special Protection Areas, Ramsar sites, ancient woodland, national nature reserves, local nature reserves and heritage coasts.
A guide only, from official open data; it is not a planning search. Flood zones cover rivers and sea, not surface water.
Data © Crown copyright and others · sources and licences
Contains public sector information from planning.data.gov.uk (MHCLG and local planning authorities), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright and database right 2026.
© Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. The Historic England GIS Data contained in this material was obtained on 2026-11-03. The most publicly available up to date Historic England GIS Data can be obtained from HistoricEngland.org.uk.
© Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.
© Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2026. All rights reserved. Flood Map for Planning, Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.
Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.
Planning history at this site
2 other applications at this property, newest first.
Source: Bolton
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