Planning application submitted for new showroom for Williams BMW

Williams propose to build separate dealerships for MINI and BMW on a 6-acre site of the former Bolton dog-racing track at the junction of Raikes Lane and Manchester Road in the Burnden area of the town.

The planning application details how the new accommodation could be configured with a single storey MINI dealership catering for new and used car sales and a two storey BMW building with new cars on the ground floor and used cars on the first floor which will be accessed via escalators.

Williams is determined to set new standards of motor retailing by giving the new show room an atmosphere more akin to a high class retail boutique rather than a standard car showroom.

The BMW dealership will also include a servicing workshop which would be furnished with the latest diagnostic and servicing equipment for both BMW and MINI.

The dealerships current body repair workshops situated close by the proposed site at Orlando Bridge, will remain but will be reorganised to reflect the extra capacity achieved from moving the servicing work stations onto the new site.

Further details revealed in the planning application show how the exterior of the buildings would echo the identity and quality associated with the BMW and Williams brands.

Road users in the area will see distinctive metallic ‘silver’ and grey cladding with horizontal white banding to represent BMW’s famous roundel marque.

The plans also show how the designers have made the most of the site’s exposure to the A666 and reveal that the management of existing landscaping on the A666 could become the responsibility of Williams with a stated desire to maintain and enhance as much of the existing landscaping as possible.

Dealer Principal of Williams Bolton, Robert Hirst, said: ”This is a very exciting time for us at Williams and this application comes after months of detailed design work with our architects.

“We have an opportunity here to create something very special in Bolton that will last the company a long time. “We believe that this dealership would raise a new standard for car dealerships in the area and offer an entirely different experience to our customers.”

The plans will now go before the planning committee of Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council and if the application is approved, construction work could begin in January 2007 with a possible opening date of the new dealership in the Autumn of 2007.

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