Bolton’s £150m Church Wharf due for green light
Plans lodged in May by Watson Homes for 418 town centre properties, a 130-key hotel, and 14,500 sq ft of commercial space are expected to be approved by the local authority next week.
The hybrid application concerns 7.5 acres of Bolton’s town centre, which was acquired by Watson Homes last year.
Permission is sought from Bolton Council to allow three phases of work. A full application has been lodged for phase one, which consists of 390 apartments, eight townhouses, and 7,000 sq ft of retail space.
These properties would be built on a former surface-level car park bounded by Bow Street and All Saints Street.
Outline permission is sought for phase two, which comprises the six-storey, 130-bed hotel and a further 5,400 sq ft of commercial space, and phase three, which consists of the remaining 10 flats, 10 townhouses, and the remaining 2,100 sq ft of retail floorspace.
It is expected that 82 of the homes would be designated as affordable and would be managed by Onward Homes.
The apartments are to be arranged in blocks rising four to six storeys. Credit: via planning documents
Previous attempts to develop the Church Wharf site, notably by Muse in 2019, have failed due to viability constraints.
Bolton Council has sought to assist developers on what it calls a “challenging” site with brownfield grant funding from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
The £150m Church Wharf is one of more than 90 projects to have received a share of £115m of brownfield housing funding.
Church Wharf, off Folds Road and Manor Street, forms one cog of Bolton’s £1bn town centre regeneration plan.
The scheme was kick-started with a forward funding deal agreed in February.
Thriving Investments, a Greater Manchester fund which is part of Places for People, was backed by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and the GMPF.
The scheme could generate a GVA of more than £5m. Credit: via planning documents
P4 Planning is advising Watson, and JMA Architects is leading on design. Others on the team include SCP, Cundall, Civic Heritage, Salford Archaeology, LK Group, Enzygo, and TACE.
To view the application, use the planning reference number 19281/24 on Bolton Council’s planning portal.
A few years ago i was excited about the Church Wharf project.. now its got to the point were I just want to see something happen!!
By MJ
Fort that was happening years ago were did the £51 million go then
By Anonymous
About time it’s been at eye sore for a few years
By Anonymous
More “retail space” whatever for, there are so many empty shops in Bolton town centre. People shop on line now, thus we do not need more shops.
By John
Too little too late !
Bolton has been left to rack and ruin due to poorly run councils and bad decisions yes look forward to this development but there is alot more areas that have been left to stagnate.
We now do not have a thriving shopping area any more how will any retailers want to move into Bolton we have lost the heart out of our town.
By Anonymous
Why do we need another hotel? I don’t understand why they got rid of The Pack Horse, then built a travel lodge!
It’s good to develop the Wharf but why do all the new buildings have to look like boxes, so ugly!
By Carole