Skip to content

Land To The Rear/side Of 505 Chorley Road Bolton BL5 3ND

20973/25Permission in PrincipleRefused
Outline / PiP

Refused on 30 December 2025

Delegated (officer decision)2 reasons for refusal

Approximate site (title boundary)
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

APPLICATION FOR THE PERMISSION IN PRINCIPLE FOR THE ERECTION OF 3 NO. DWELLINGS.

Received
8 September 2025
Decision level
Delegated (officer decision)
Ward
Westhoughton North & Hunger Hill
Agent
MacMarshalls Ltd
  1. Received8 Sep
  2. Validated9 Sep
  3. Consult.1 Oct
  4. Target21 Oct
  5. Decided30 Dec

Decided in 112 days (council typically 56)

About this application

This is an outline application for a new dwelling at Land To The Rear/side Of 505 Chorley Road Bolton BL5 3ND. Bolton has handled 517 applications of this type. This one was decided in 113 days, 8 weeks longer than Bolton's typical decision time. There are no previous applications recorded at this address. In the past year there have been 90 applications across Westhoughton North & Hunger Hill. We hold 281 applications in total for the BL5 postcode area.

79% of outline 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.See what's approved near your address

Why it was refused

  1. The proposed development is not considered to meet any of the exception criteria within National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) paragraph 154 and it is not considered that the application site meets the definition of grey belt as the site is considered to strongly contribute to purpose (a) of NPPF paragraph 143. The applicant has provided no very special circumstances to outweigh the harm that would be caused to the Green Belt. The proposal therefore constitutes inappropriate development in the Green Belt, contrary to Allocations Plan policy CG7AP and section 13 of the National Planning Policy Framework.
  2. Vehicular access to the site, off the A6 Chorley Road, would be sub-standard in highway terms, owing to the proximity of the roundabout at Chorley Road with De Havilland Way and the 40mph speed limit, to the detriment of highway safety. The location of the proposed development is therefore unacceptable and contrary to policy JP-C8 of Places for Everyone.

From the council's decision notice.

Application details

Postcode
BL5 3ND
Application type
Permission in Principle
Scale / size
Small
Parish
Westhoughton Town Council

Planning application dates

Date validated
9 September 2025
Consultation expiry
30 October 2025
Consultation start
10 September 2025
Consultation end
1 October 2025
Neighbour consultation start
12 September 2025
Neighbour consultation end
3 October 2025
Last date for comments
30 October 2025
Target decision date
21 October 2025
Permission expires
30 December 2030

Applicant and agent

Agent
MacMarshalls Ltd
Agent address
Hamill House 112-116 Chorley New Road Bolton BL1 4DH

Planning decision

Statutory period
42 days

Publicity

Site notice end
30 October 2025

Additional information

Documents
5
Constraints
12

Site constraints

Checking the site
2/3
Council recordsAppealsFlood risk

Designations that overlap or adjoin the site outline.

  • 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.

© 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.

Source: Bolton

Track this application

Get email alerts when there is a planning decision or status change.

Get email alerts near BL5

New planning applications delivered to your inbox daily.

Around this site

Discuss this application on r/PlanningPermissionUK

For applicants and trades

Consultants on this application

What's been approved on your street?

See what the council approved and refused near this address for the project you have in mind, and the rules that apply here.

Get The Signal Report