A NEW “town” will be built on the site of the former Horwich Loco Works — after planning chiefs gave proposals for a 1,700-home estate the green light.

But frustrated campaigners hit out at the decision which was made yesterday at a special meeting of Bolton Council’s planning committee, claiming their concerns were not being heard.

Councillors voted to grant outline permission for the development of the 189-acre brownfield site — which will see 50 acres of open space and 20 acres of land suitable for business development created alongside the 1,700 new homes.

The plans, which could take up to 15 years to complete, will now be handed to the council’s director of development and regeneration, who will iron out any legal issues and various conditions, after which work can start.

Developers Horwich Vision submitted the application last year — and since then Horwich residents have raised concerns about issues including health and education provision, transport infrastructure, sports facilities and the contaminated state of the industrial site.

Speaking on behalf of the residents group, Marie Brady said: “The idea that things can be resolved later through reserved matters applications is either naive or wishful thinking.

“We are not opposed to this development but we have real concerns on a number of key issues that have not been properly addressed.

“There just aren’t the safeguards in place — controls and agreements need to be tightened and toughened up for the sake of the future of Horwich.”

One key issue involves the preservation of four key heritage buildings on the site, labelled the “heritage core” — but councillors were told yesterday that no money will initially be made available to save those buildings.

The developers will however be putting £9.7 million towards education provision although there are no plans for a school to be built on the site.

There will also be £380,000 made available for healthcare.

But residents were left angry that no formal playing pitches will be created across the entire development.

A number of highways improvements have been proposed, including the widening of various key junctions, including those between the A6 and De Havilland Way and at Junction 6 of the M61.

The potential contamination of the site is another key point, the meeting heard, and there are plans to create a local liaison group, made up of local councillors and residents, which will continue to examine the issue.

Cllr Joyce Kellet, vice-chairman of planning and a Horwich town councillor said: “I want to see this application go ahead.

“I recently visited the area and the dereliction sickened me — the loco works used to be a pillar of the community.

“I also think setting up a local liaison group regarding the contamination is a great idea.”

Liberal Democrat councillor Andrew Martin asked for the plans to be deferred.

He said: “I cannot believe that we could potentially have this many houses built without a school on the site. This could mean children trying to cross the dangerous Chorley New Road.

“I am also concerned that there are no guarantees that the four heritage core buildings won’t be left to go to rack and ruin before eventually being knocked down and built upon.”

See our live updates from the meeting here.