UNITARY DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR BOLTON Adopted April 2005 Bolton’s Unitary Development Plan Adopted Plan CONTENTS Page CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION 3 CHAPTER 2 - PART 1 POLICIES 7 CHAPTER 3 - COUNTRYSIDE AND THE RURAL ECONOMY 9 CHAPTER 4 - GREEN BELT 13 CHAPTER 5 - NATURE CONSERVATION 17 CHAPTER 6 - ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 25 CHAPTER 7 - DESIGN AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT 31 CHAPTER 8 - OPEN SPACE AND RECREATION 39 CHAPTER 9 - ACCESSIBILITY 45 CHAPTER 10 - HOUSING 59 CHAPTER 11 - COMMUNITY PROVISION 65 CHAPTER 12 - EMPLOYMENT AND THE ECONOMY 69 CHAPTER 13 - RETAIL AND LEISURE 73 CHAPTER 14 - TOWN CENTRES 79 CHAPTER 15 - MINERALS 83 CHAPTER 16 - WASTE 89 CHAPTER 17 - MONITORING AND REVIEW 93 APPENDICES APPENDIX 1 - PLANNING CONTROL POLICY NOTES 95 APPENDIX 2 - SITES OF BIOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE 97 APPENDIX 3 - CONSERVATION AREAS & SCHEDULED ANCIENT 99 MONUMENTS APPENDIX 4 - HOUSING SITES 101 APPENDIX 5 - INDUSTRIAL SITES 105 APPENDIX 6 - PROPOSED RETAIL ALLOCATIONS 111 APPENDIX 7 - CAR PARKING STANDARDS 113 Bolton’s Unitary Development Plan Adopted Plan CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION The Borough of Bolton 01.01 The Borough of Bolton is one of ten metropolitan districts in Greater Manchester. It is bounded in the north by Lancashire and on the remaining edges by the districts of Wigan, Salford and Bury. The Borough has a population of around 265,000 who live in the main urban area of Bolton, Farnworth, Kearsley and Turton, and the freestanding settlements of Little Lever, Horwich, Blackrod and Westhoughton. About half of the area is built up, but the remainder is countryside, mainly in agricultural use or open moorland. Planning the Way Ahead 01.02 The first Unitary Development Plan for Bolton was prepared in the early 1990s and finally adopted in December 1995. It provided a context for the development of the Borough. The progress made in implementing the plan has been recorded in a series of Monitoring Reports published since 1994. These reports show that the first UDP for Bolton has, in general, been implemented. The Green Belt has remained intact; protected open land has mainly remained undeveloped; many of the housing allocations have been developed; shopping centres have been maintained and improved; new industrial developments have been completed; and public transport improvements carried out. In particular, much of the development has been on previously developed land with both substantial housing completions and industrial and commercial developments being located within the urban areas. The Need for Review 01.03 Government advice is that plans should be kept up to date and this review plan looks forward to 2011 to provide a development framework for the Borough. Recent Government advice is incorporated in the plan and the opportunity has been taken to provide a new vision for the physical development of Bolton. This has to embrace the future of the urban areas and the need to protect and enhance the environment of the countryside. Regional Planning Context 01.04 Regional Planning Guidance for the North West (RPG 13 and now called the Regional Spatial Strategy) was published in March 2003. Regard has been had to RPG in the preparation of this plan. In the absence of any more up to date guidance for Greater Manchester, the ten district councils have prepared and endorsed a Greater Manchester Planning Framework to guide the preparation of UDP reviews across the County. Bolton Borough Council have adopted the Planning Framework and used it to guide the preparation of this plan. The Unitary Development Plan Process 01.05 The adopted Unitary Development Plan is the final stage of a process that started with the launching of an Issues Paper in January 1998. The comments received on the Issues Paper were taken into account and the Council published the “First Deposit Version” of the UDP on 5th June 2000 followed by a 6 week consultation period until 17th July 2000. The Council took the April 2005 3 Bolton’s Unitary Development Plan Adopted Plan consultation responses into account and published the “Second Deposit Version" of the UDP on 22nd January 2001 followed by a six week period for objection, until 5th March 2001. A Public Inquiry into objections was held from 27th November 2001 until 19th December 2002. The Council published the report of the planning inspector, who conducted the Inquiry, on 1st September 2003. The Council published modifications to the UDP as a result of the inspector’s recommendation, for a six week period finishing on 20th December 2004, and adopted the Unitary Development Plan on 7th April 2005. The Form and Content of the Plan 01.06 Under the Unitary Development Plan Regulations, the plan must consist of two types of policy. Part 1 policies consider strategic land use issues, taking into account current national and regional policies. Part 2 policies contain detailed proposals for the use of land and policies for development control. The proposals in Part 2 must be shown on a map on an Ordnance Survey base with inset maps if needed. 01.07 This introductory chapter is followed by Part 1 of the plan. Chapters 3 to 16 contain Part 2 of the plan. All policies are shown in bold text. The proposals map consists of a 1:10,000 map dividing the Borough into East and West sections showing the plan proposals, and an Inset Map of Bolton Town Centre at a larger scale. 01.08 In the reasoned justification to some policies, reference is made to the Council's Planning Control Policy Notes. These notes are Supplementary Planning Guidance and are not part of the UDP. They have been written to provide detailed guidance and have been subject to consultation. They are listed in Appendix 1. The Council also produces other SPG, for example Conservation Area Character Appraisals and planning briefs. The Strategy 01.09 The previous UDP for Bolton was based on seven themes which were expressed through policies in Chapter 3 of the plan. In general, the consultation responses supported this strategy and wished to see it continue. There were suggestions, however, that the themes of the plan should be expressed as objectives rather than policies. This would enable individual subject policies to be assessed against them as part of the environmental, economic and social appraisal of the plan. It would also enable the Council's partners to see how their land use aspirations could be achieved. 01.10 Since the preparation of the original UDP, there has been a growth in working between the Council and partners. The UDP is one of the ways in which the goals set with these partners can be achieved. The "Vision for the Future" and "Local Agenda 21" proposals are particularly important in this context. 01.11 This plan seeks to integrate economic, social and environmental factors in its decisions about where to locate homes, jobs, shops and leisure facilities with the achievement of sustainable development the principle behind all the policies. It seeks to make progress towards an urban renaissance by restricting the supply of greenfield sites for development; concentrating future developments onto previously developed land; and enhancing the environment of the urban and rural areas. 01.12 The overarching purpose of this plan is to achieve sustainable development through the themes of: April 2005 4 Bolton’s Unitary Development Plan Adopted Plan 1. Environmental protection 2. Prudent use of natural resources 3. Social progress which recognises the needs of everyone 4. Economic growth and employment 01.13 To implement these themes the plan has 23 objectives. These have been used to formulate the policies of the plan and provide a framework against which progress towards sustainability and urban renaissance can be assessed. 01.14 The objectives of the Plan, which are not set out in priority order, are to: 1. Maintain and enhance biodiversity, ensuring endangered and valued species and habitats are protected; 2. Make Bolton a more attractive place in which to live; 3. Improve air quality; 4. Protect and enhance the built heritage; 5. Maintain and enhance the character of the urban and rural landscape; 6. Secure the occupation and beneficial use of quality buildings; 7. Increase tree cover (especially broad-leaved woodland) and sustainable management of existing woodland; 8. Protect water resources and enhance water quality; 9. Reduce the consumption of undeveloped land; 10. Protect and enhance land and soil quality; 11. Reduce the use of, and reliance upon, non-renewable fuels; 12. Reduce the quantities of waste for disposal; 13. Reduce the consumption of minerals from primary sources; 14. Improve access for all sections of the community to housing, shopping, community, health, and recreation opportunities; 15. Provide good quality housing to meet the needs of local communities; 16. Promote socially inclusive neighbourhoods; 17. Increase safety and sense of security; 18. Reduce negative environmental impacts on health; 19. Provide accessible, high quality and safe integrated public transport services and reduce the need to travel by car; 20. Promote the creation of employment opportunities; April 2005 5 Bolton’s Unitary Development Plan Adopted Plan 21. Protect and improve existing employment areas; 22. Provide for good accessibility to, and movement of, goods by business; and 23. Develop new sustainable leisure, cultural and tourism opportunities. April 2005 6 Bolton’s Unitary Development Plan Adopted Plan CHAPTER 2 - PART 1 POLICIES COUNTRYSIDE AND THE RURAL ECONOMY 02.01 R1. THE COUNCIL WILL PERMIT DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS THAT DO NOT ADVERSELY AFFECT THE CHARACTER AND APPEARANCE; ECONOMY; AND THE NATURAL AND HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT OF THE COUNTRYSIDE. GREEN BELT 02.02 G1. THE COUNCIL WILL NOT PERMIT DEVELOPMENT WITHIN THE DESIGNATED GREEN BELT UNLESS IT IS CLEARLY NEEDED FOR AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY OR OTHER APPROPRIATE USES AND DOES NOT PREJUDICE GREEN BELT’S PURPOSES AND OBJECTIVES.