Plans submitted for 1,450 new homes, link road and 15-acre park in this Greater Manchester town

The plans include the new Park Avenue link road to ease congestion at Chequerbent roundabout, together with homes, employment space, community infrastructure and a 15-acre park.

The Lee Hall development is one of the first proposals to form part of the Northfold growth initiative across Bolton and Wigan.

The proposal for 1,450 family and affordable homes to help tackle the housing crisis and address the longstanding shortfall of new homes in Bolton.

The development will create 480 new permanent jobs on-site, and many more during the construction phase, with training and apprenticeship opportunities for young people. The Park Avenue link road is a key part of the Lee Hall proposals. It provides a long-term solution to the congestion issues in the area, with studies showing it could cut peak journey times between the M61 and Chequerbent roundabout by up to six minutes.

Traffic modelling shows that if Park Avenue is not delivered, the delays experienced in the local area will get almost four and five times longer in the morning and evening peak respectively, as planned growth across the Northfold corridor comes forward.

Nick Graham, Associate Planning Director at Peel Land said: “Our recent public consultation highlighted the community’s strong desire for a solution to the longstanding traffic woes at Chequerbent, which we know will only increase over time.

“Our proposals for Lee Hall – which will fulfil a vision first set nearly 60 years ago for an east wing of Westhoughton – will deliver this, alongside new homes, a school, care home, community facilities, and the park, providing major benefits for existing and future residents.

“Lee Hall will be a key part of delivering the wider NorthFold vision. Given that the proposed development includes land at Junction 5 of the M61 already allocated for employment floorspace in Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s Places for Everyone strategy, it will be a growth location where hundreds of new jobs will be created as local businesses thrive.”

The plans include:

- A new public park for Westhoughton, which could include a diverse range of facilities for children and will connect Hall Lee Bank Park and communities in Westhoughton to the Hulton Park Estate, with new routes, trails and accessible green spaces that are not presently available

- A new community hub for local groups, charities and clubs

- Potential for a new primary school

- A c.75-bed care home

- Health and wellbeing facilities

- Neighbourhood retail opportunities

- Improved and extended Public Rights of Way, and c.6.4 km of cycleways

- New open space and sports facilities

- New allotments

- Opportunities for public art, to be designed in collaboration with local artists, schools and other community groups