Two drop-in events will be held in Bolton for residents and businesses to have their say on Greater Manchester’s Plan for Homes, Jobs and the Environment.
Bolton Council has worked with the nine other Greater Manchester authorities to produce a joint plan, which identifies land to deliver the homes and jobs needed up to 2037.
Locally, council leaders have protected the green belt from housing – all the proposed 13,800 homes Bolton needs to meet its target are on urban and brownfield sites.
New housing originally proposed at green belt sites in North Bolton and Hulton Park, and on protected open land at Bowlands Hey and Lee Hall have been removed from the latest plan.
The authority is also proposing to reclassify two new sites as green belt land – Horwich Golf Course and Ditchers Farm in Westhoughton – to give them added protection.
Two drop-in events will be held where residents can view the documents and speak to council officers and find out more.
The first event will be held at Carnegie Hall, Westhoughton Town Hall, Library Street, BL5 3AW on February 25, from 2pm to 7pm.
The second drop-in will take place at Friends’ Meeting House, 50 Silverwell Street, BL1 1PP on March 6, from 2pm to 7pm.
Executive Cabinet Member for Housing, Cllr Martin Donaghy, said: “Your views matter - after the last round of consultation, we changed the GMSF in light of feedback from our communities.
“We have protected the green belt and we are the only council in the region to remove proposed green belt sites for housing.
“We want to hear what people think works and we want your view to help us shape Bolton for the future.”
The town will also contribute 830,000 sq m of industrial and warehousing floorspace towards the region’s 4.82 million sq m target. Just under half of this will be on brownfield land.
Cllr Donaghy added: “The redevelopment of Bolton town centre for new office jobs and housing is a key focus of the latest GMSF plan in line with our £1bn masterplan.
“We have ambitious plans to continue the economic growth of the borough and to ensure that the right new houses are provided in the right locations.
“We have made sure that Bolton’s green belt is protected from housing development but we cannot deliver on the regional employment land targets through brownfield sites alone.
“We understand developers have certain requirements from employment land but it is also vital that they put the right infrastructure in place to support developments.”
For more information and to take part in the online consultation, visit gmconsult.org. The consultation ends March 18, 2019.