Ashcrofts Farm Chorley Road Bolton BL5 3NL Data via plota.co.uk

00970/26 - Full Planning Permission Approved

Proposal

Variation of condition 1 (drainage) on application for the demolition of existing farm house and out buildings and erection of five bungalows Data via plota.co.uk

View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

✓
Received
28 May 2026
✓
Consultation
28 May 2026
✓
Approved
20 Jul 2026

Approved on 20 Jul 2026 · Delegated Decision · Last checked 20 Jul 2026

Documents 20

All documents on the council site ↗

Associated applications 2

  • Part of

    VariationApprovedcouncil archive

    Conditions 1 varied

    • VariationVariation of condition 1 (drainage) on application 19760/25 for the demolition of existing…This application00970/26

Site constraints 6

Green belt: Merseyside and Greater Manchester
Inappropriate development needs very special circumstances.
Green belt policy allows a short list of exceptions, such as limited extensions and replacement buildings. Anything else needs very special circumstances that clearly outweigh the harm. Some green belt land can count as grey belt, where it does not strongly serve the green belt's purposes. The council decides this in its green belt assessment or on each application, so we do not mark it here.
Read the government guidance ↗
Agricultural land, grade 3b
Not best and most versatile land (grades 1, 2 and 3a). Source: the Predictive Agricultural Land Classification Map (Defra and Natural England, 2025; the Welsh Government's Predictive ALC Map 2 in Wales), a model rather than a site survey. Natural England's Provisional ALC map (1:250,000, 1970s) agrees.
Where development of farmland is needed, policy prefers poorer land over the best and most versatile (grades 1, 2 and 3a). Three sources: Natural England's post-1988 field surveys, which are definitive where they exist; the Defra predictive map for England (2025) and the Welsh Government predictive map, modelled from the soil map with 3a and 3b split; and the 1970s provisional map, which planners and other services still show, coarser and with grade 3 undivided. Where the provisional and predicted grades disagree, treat the predicted grade as the current estimate and expect an application to carry its own survey.
Public footpath about 22 m away
Matters where it crosses or adjoins the site: obstructing a path without a diversion order is an offence, and work cannot start until the order is confirmed.
Compiled from highway authority data, not the legal definitive map. A few authorities have not published, so no path shown is not proof there is none.
Habitat network: Network Expansion Zone
Where habitat is joined up enough to work as a network. Context, not a constraint on its own.
Also on the record
Coalfield, development low risk area; 1 listed building within 150 m of the postcode pin.
Not affected
Outside flood zones 2 and 3 · No scheduled monument at the site

Checked on 6 October 2026. The pin for this application is the centre of its postcode rather than the building, so distances to nearby designations are measured from the postcode and can be out by the width of the postcode area. Historic England, the Environment Agency, Natural England, the Mining Remediation Authority and council datasets, Open Government Licence. A boundary can run through a site and the council holds the definitive record: confirm with the council before relying on this.

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Important details

Council
Bolton
Application type
Full Planning Permission
Postcode
BL5 3NL
Received
28 May 2026
Validated
28 May 2026
Ward
Westhoughton North & Hunger Hill
Parish
Westhoughton Town Council
Case officer
Show
Target decision
23 Jul 2026
Decision
Approve subject to conditions
Decision date
20 Jul 2026
Decision level
Delegated Decision
Applicant
Show
Agent
Jason Linnane & Associates Ltd

Consultation & key dates

Alt. reference
PP-14967527
Planning Portal ref
PP-14967527
Neighbours
28 May 2026
Consultation
28 May 2026
Comments by
14 Jul 2026
Statutory expiry
23 Jul 2026
Env. assessment
No
Bolton
Planning Authority Score
2.5/10
Poor
#250 of 296 councils
Relevant to this application:
Householder decisions

Bolton is slower than most councils at deciding householder applications, ranking #229 out of 296. Bolton is also one of the strictest councils - it refuses more householder applications than almost any other, with only 83% approved vs 90% nationally.

One of the strictest councils
only 83% approved vs 90% nationally
These figures are council-wide context, not a prediction for this application. View full council performance
Bolton decision statistics
Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026
79%
Overall approval rate
Below avg (87%) #263 of 296
83%
Householder approved
Below avg (90%) #259 of 296
51%
Decided in 8 weeks
Below avg (63%) #229 of 296
44%
Extended time limit
Above avg (41%) #175 of 296
63%
Minor dwellings approved
70 decided (1-9 homes)
83%
Major dwellings approved
12 decided (10+ homes)
62%
Change of use approved
113 decided
996
Total decisions
208 refused in the year to March 2026