Ashberry moves forward with 119 Bolton homes
More than 16 acres of former farmland in Westhoughton have been acquired by the housebuilder, enabling an immediate start on site.
Ashberry Homes, a trading division of Bellway Homes, has named the future development Lilibet Gardens, in honour of the late Queen Elizabeth II. The name was also chosen to match the scheme’s neighbour, Bellway’s Royal Bowland Park.
Bellway had secured planning permission from the Planning Inspectorate for the Lilibet Gardens in October last year. The scheme makes up phases three and four of Bellway’s larger, nearly 600-home Bowlands Hey project. It sits off The Fairways in Westhoughton.
The first Lilibet Gardens homes are set to be ready for occupation early next year. The proposed houses will range between two- and four-bedroom residences, each with a private rear garden and off-road parking. Of the 119 homes to be built, 35% will be designated affordable.
Lichfield Reynolds and Chester-based Astle Planning & Design worked with the housebuilder on the development.
“The plans for Lilibet Gardens are superb,” said Grace Yarlett, sales director at Ashberry Homes. “The selection of two-, three-, and four-bedroom homes are excellent, and the development has been created so that is landscape-led, meaning it features green spaces, ponds and footpaths, making it an attractive place to live, just on the outskirts of Bolton.”
You can see the plans for Lilibet Gardens by searching application reference number 11567/21 on Bolton Council’s planning portal.
Westhoughton cannot support any more houses. The traffic is already a nightmare at rush hour and getting a doctor’s appointment is nigh on impossible.
Will Ashberry/Bellway be making a contribution to the infrastructure?
By Nick
Yes developers are often required to contribute to infrastructure and will do so in this case. The contributions are set out in the S106 legal agreement document on Bolton’s planning portal for the planning application 11567/21. There are very significant education contributions towards secondary school places, and money for highways and rights of way improvements. In addition the scheme provides affordable housing. According to the planning officer’s report no health needs were identified by the CCG. Without this justification it would be unlawful to demand money for health.
By Informed planner
Landscape led…. the buzz word of a industry that knows little about good landscape design. A landscape led scheme with gardens that have a single tree at the front and only turf to the rear. The only reason there will be any landscape will be to meet BNG and drainage requirements.
By MJ
These suburban houses all look the same. Give me a city centre apartment where I can do everything on foot and never need a car any day of the week. Who’d want to live in the middle of nowhere in a house that looks identical to all your neighbours’?!
By Anonymous
MJ most developers, housebuilders need to submit landscape plans and employ landscape architects, plans are then approved by the Council. Some will take the lowest common denominator to meet policy and expectation but don’t put everyone in the same basket
By Informed developer
I agree , horwich is the same the traffic is crazy already . Yet they keep building hundreds more houses at a time and the fairly quiet streets are now very busy and people are selling up , why not do up houses that are already built and do Bolton up instead of taking all the green space away and adding 4 bedroom detached houses everywhere. All the developers are bothered about is money and it’s the same with the councils and planning letting them do it with a cash incentive, they just add that in the price of property so it costs them nothing. But the council them build anywhere for 100 k no green space or infrastructure just adding more traffic and people to already over populated areas.
By James