What is the Statutory Development Plan or Local Plan?
The Statutory Development Plan, or Local Plan, is comprised of the saved Unitary Development Plan policies, the adopted proposals map, and the Core Strategy and the Greater Manchester Waste Plan. It also includes the Regional Spatial Strategy, however this is due to be revoked through the Localism Act.
Work is underway on the Greater Manchester Minerals Plan and the Allocations Plan. Once these are examined by an independent inspector, and adopted by the council, they will also form part of the Statutory Development plan.
Saved Unitary Development Plan policies
The council adopted the Unitary Development Plan (UDP) in 2005. It was a plan that set out how land within the borough should be used over the coming years. It consisted of a written statement and proposals map. The adoption of the UDP in 2005 was the end of a process in which the Council consulted extensively with the local community about its content. The Council consulted on draft versions of the UDP in 2000 and 2001. It held a public inquiry in 2001/2 and published the Inspector’s report on that inquiry in 2003. The Council took into account the recommendations of that report and adopted the UDP in April 2005.
The policies in the UDP expired in April 2008, three years after their adoption. The Secretary of State issued a direction that all the UDP policies should be saved, meaning that they could continue to be used, and will remain in force until replaced by policies in the Local Development Framework. A copy of the direction from the Secretary of State is available from the downloadable documents on this page.
Current status of the UDP and saved policies
The council adopted Bolton’s Core Strategy in March 2011 and this is part of the Local Development Framework. The Core Strategy superseded many of the UDP’s saved policies and changed the proposals map in one location at Horwich Loco Works. Appendix 5 of the Core Strategy lists which UDP policies have been replaced by those in the Core Strategy.
The council along with the other 9 councils in Greater Manchester adopted the Greater Manchester Joint Waste Plan in April 2012. As a result the only remaining Bolton UDP waste policy W3 has now been replaced with development management policies in the Waste Plan. In addition the proposals map has been changed further with the allocation of sites at Watersmeeting Road and Waterloo Street for waste management facilities. As a consequence UDP employment commitment 17E Watersmeeting Road has been deleted.
The remaining UDP policies which are still applicable following the adoption of the Core Strategy and the Waste Plan are contained in a 
separate document. If you require a printed copy of this document please contact us on the details given on this page. The cost for the printed copy is £25 and includes the UDP proposal maps for Bolton.
Proposals map
The proposals map is shown as an interactive map below. Before using the online map you should read the terms and conditions page. By using the online map you are agreeing to these terms and conditions.
To view the UDP in a larger window, please click here.