Residents baffled after road on their estate listed for auction
The land includes part of the road of Wayfaring, three strips of land and two plots of land to the rear of 152 Manchester Road.
Part of the land includes a strip of the green space in the middle of the estate.
The description says the plots “appear to suit a variety of uses” such as amenities, parking and gardens.
It says it could also suit “small scale speculative infill development” if the required permission is given.
The auction will be held at noon on Wednesday, March 12.
Wayfaring in Westhoughton (Image: Newsquest) Chris Tennant, a local resident, said that they first saw the sign on Wednesday (February 26) morning and the auction listing was shared in the estate group chat.
He said: “Yes, [it is concerning], to find out that according to that, the road which we’ve lived on for 30 years and always assumed was council land, and fully adopted, suddenly belonged to someone else.
“We haven’t had confirmation from the council yet.
“Do they actually own the road? Is it fully adopted?”
Local councillors Arthur Price (left) and Deirdre McGeown (right) next to the road being auction in Wayfaring (Image: David Wilkinson) According to Bolton Council, they do not own the land, although the part of Wayfaring on auction is listed as an adopted road on their website.
Chris said: “We looked on the auction site – there’s a strip that lies halfway down the embankment running parallel to the road.
“What on earth use is that to anybody?
“It’s not wide enough to build a dog kennel on.
The land up for auction highlighted in yellow (Image: Google Maps) “Nobody’s going to want to buy it surely because it doesn’t offer a building opportunity.
“I can’t see anybody else wanting to be philanthropic and say, all right, we’ll donate this as part of the green space.”
Another local resident, who did not want to be named, said that it was “concerning” when they saw the for sale sign had gone up.
The for sale sign which went up on Wednesday (February 26) (Image: David Wilkinson) Have a story? Get in touch at eoin.mccaul@newsquest.co.uk
They said: “It’s a bit confusing as to what’s for sale, I think it’s concerning because there’s no information about it.
“You would have thought they’d put something through the door. It’s quite soon too, the auction is on the 12th of this month.”
Cllr David Wilkinson said: “We have been contacted by residents who are really worried about the for sale sign.
“The plot includes the road, the grass verge, a pedestrian access point and a piece of land on Manchester Road.
The green space in Wayfaring (Image: Newsquest) READ MORE: Singleton Avenue, Horwich £100K fund to be allocated
READ MORE: Plans to build 5G tower next to Farnworth park but path concerns aired
READ MORE: Cherry Tree School in Farnworth measures to stop parking
“It really is ridiculous – me, Arthur and Deirdre have gone back to highways and asked, ‘why is a road and public pedestrian access point up for sale?’
“Obviously, residents are very concerned because it’s the only open space on the estate and it’s a grass area.
“And I have never seen anyone selling an adopted road – never come across it.”
A spokesman for Bolton Council said that the sale does not impact the adopted highway and the authority is not associated with the sale.
Source – INDIA TV
