44 Lower Leigh Road Bolton BL5 2EH

01787/26Refused

Lawful development certificate

Refused on 23 October 2026

Approximate location: the centre of the postcode, not the exact property.

Proposal

CERTIFICATE OF LAWFULNESS PROPOSED (S192) FOR CHANGE OF USE FROM DWELLING (C3) TO (C3b) RESIDENTIAL CARE FACILITY FOR 6 NO. YOUNG PERSONS

Received: 2 October 2026
Public comments: 0 · last counted 27 October 2026
Council: Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council
Ward: Westhoughton South

ReceivedReceived2 Oct
ValidatedValidated6 Oct
Consult.Consultation
TargetTarget Date
DecidedDecided23 Oct

Decided in 17 days

About this application

This is a planning application for a change of use at 44 Lower Leigh Road Bolton BL5 2EH. Bolton has handled 5,985 applications of this type. This one was decided in 17 days, 6 weeks quicker than Bolton's typical decision time. There are no previous applications recorded at this address. In the past year there have been 51 applications across Westhoughton South. We hold 281 applications in total for the BL5 postcode area.

Why it was refused

The use of the residential property as a children's home would not fall within Use Class C3 of The Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 (as amended) and it is considered that the proposed Class C2 use would result in a material change of use to the property. The proposed development would not therefore be lawful and accordingly, the certificate is hereby refused.

From the council's decision notice.

Application details

Postcode: BL5 2EH
Parish: Westhoughton Town Council

Planning application dates

Date validated: 6 October 2026

Applicant and agent

Applicant: Private applicant

Planning decision

Case officer: South Team

Additional information

Documents: 5

Site constraints

Checking the site

2/3

Council recordsAppealsFlood risk

Designations at the address point. Ones next to the site may also apply.

Green belt: Bolton
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, 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, heritage coasts and brownfield registers.

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.

Source: Bolton

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