Westhoughton residents concerned over lack of amenities

There are more than 1,450 new homes planned as part of Peel Land and Property’s Lee Hall development, but residents and local councillors feel the town is not set up to handle this many new people.

Councillors and residents report issues in three key areas – traffic, which is already said to be bad, school places, and doctor’s surgeries.

Cllr Arthur Price said there are not enough doctors’ surgeries in Bolton to cope with increasing developments.

He added: “If you move here now, where are your kids going to go to school?

“I’ve lived here for 40 years, but it is not the place I moved into.

“Westhoughton is a thriving town – just look at the nightlife.

Westhoughton Councillor David Wilkinson (Image: Bolton Council)

“People deserve better then what they get here – sometimes it feels like I’m banging my head against a brick wall.

“We’re a cash cow – we can’t get upgrades to the roads or services, but they’ll put new houses here.”

And the developments do not stop at Lee Hall.

According to fellow Westhoughton Councillor David Wilkinson, Bolton’s Local Plan for the next few years could see Westhoughton ‘nearly double’ in size.

“If you look at the plans, everywhere else has hardly any developments – it’s mainly Westhoughton.”

A consultation on Bolton’s local plan, which aims to shape developments around the borough for the next 15 years, closed on January 22 this year.

“People say to me all the time ‘there’s never money to fix roads or amenities’, but then they find £70m for a golf course.

Westhoughton’s Manchester Road is very busy at peak times (Image: Dan Dougherty)

“And this link road – people who’ve looked at it have told me it won’t be enough for the amount of people they’re expecting.”

“We’ve not had a new school built in Westhoughton for over 40 years,” said Cllr Wilkinson, “and that was Eatock Primary.”

He added: “And as far as the high school, kids there are already being shipped out to other schools because there isn’t enough room,” said Cllr Wilkinson, “It isn’t big enough now! And pupils from Lee Hall alone will make it far far worse.”