Biodiversity Duty Report 2021-2025

1. Biodiversity Duty and Reporting:

Public authorities who operate in England must consider what they can do to conserve and enhance biodiversity in England. This is the strengthened ‘biodiversity duty’ that the Environment Act 2021 introduced.

This means that, as a public authority, we must:

• Consider what we can do to conserve and enhance biodiversity.
• Agree policies and specific objectives based on our consideration.
• Act to deliver our policies and achieve our objectives.

This report summarises the policies and actions Bolton Council have carried out to comply with our Biodiversity Duty up to 1 January 2026, the end date of the first reporting period, and how the Council plans to meet our Biodiversity Reporting Duty and Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) obligations in the next reporting period.

This report includes:

• The policies and objectives the Council have set to meet our Biodiversity Duty.
• The actions the Council has completed, either alone or in partnership with others, that benefit biodiversity.
• An explanation as to how the Council has taken account of Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS), protected site strategies and species conservation strategies.
• How the Council plans to comply with the biodiversity duty in the next reporting period (five years).
• Details of the actions the Council has carried out to meet Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) obligations.
• Details of BNG resulting, or expected to result, from Biodiversity Gain Plans the Council has approved.
• How the Council Plans to meet biodiversity net gain obligations in the next reporting period.
   

2. Biodiversity in Bolton: Challenges and Opportunities

Greater Manchester is currently facing a biodiversity emergency, with a 2024 report highlighting declining species, fragmented protected areas, and poor river quality. Despite providing £1bn in annual benefits, the natural environment is in decline, and a third of the population lacks nearby access to green space—a disparity that disproportionately affects deprived communities.

Bolton plays a critical role in regional conservation due to its unique geography and habitats:

• Diverse Landscapes: Bolton spans from southern flatlands to the West Pennine Moors, intersecting three National Character Areas.
• Priority Habitats: Despite urbanisation, the borough retains vital upland oak woods, the county’s highest proportion of scrub, and significant blanket bogs like Red Moss SSSI, where restoration has brought back the Sundew plant.
• Unique Flora & Fauna: The area supports rare plants found nowhere else in Greater Manchester (e.g., Carline Thistle, Oak Fern) and diverse wildlife, including seven bat species and specialist moorland birds like the Curlew.
• Post-Industrial Gems: Nob End SSSI hosts unusual alkaline-loving plants on historic industrial waste.
• Data & Protection:  Bolton boasts 17 Local Nature Reserves (the most of all Greater Manchester boroughs) and over 70 Sites of Biological Importance (SBIs) which are routinely monitored to assess their ecological integrity. Ecological data is managed by the GMLRC, with key sites receiving protection through local planning policies to safeguard these assets.

3. Policies and objectives the Council have set to meet our Biodiversity Duty.

Bolton Council is committed to protecting and enhancing the borough’s biodiversity, as outlined in several key strategies designed to tackle the climate and ecological emergencies:

• Greenspace Strategy: The Greenspace Strategy includes a vision to deliver safe, accessible and protected green spaces within the borough with a key focus on biodiversity and offsetting. Key priorities, themes and objectives will protect and promote nature and key habitats locally and provide benefits for wildlife, residents and visitors to the borough. Following public consultation in 2025, the strategy was adopted in early 2026.
• Vision 2040: In 2025 a new vision to deliver a thriving borough, where people want to live, work, study and invest was published. The vision has three pillars and six missions which include a commitment to a Cleaner, Greener Bolton.  Through this plan, we will continue investing in public spaces, improving infrastructure, and addressing environmental issues such as protecting and enhancing biodiversity in the borough.
• Places for Everyone (PfE): Places for Everyone (adopted in 2024) is a long-term plan of nine Greater Manchester districts including Bolton for jobs, new homes, and sustainable growth. One of the objectives of PfE is to improve the quality of our natural environment and access to green spaces by enhancing special landscapes, green infrastructure and biodiversity. PfE aims to deliver this through a range of policies including JP-G2 Green Infrastructure Network, JP-G3 River Valleys and Waterways, JP-G5 Uplands, JP-G6 Urban Green Space, JP-G7 Trees and Woodland, JP-G8 A Net Enhancement of Biodiversity and Geodiversity. Locally specific biodiversity issues are addressed through allocations policies, for example, JPA6 West of Wingates requires development to take appropriate account of Four Gates Site of Biological Importance.
• Local Plan:  Core Strategy (2008) Policy CG1 has been replaced by Places for Everyone (PfE) policies. Bolton Council is preparing a new local plan that will add detail to PfE policies and address Bolton specific issues.  The Bolton Local Plan Direction of Travel Document was consulted on from 27 Nov 2025 to 22 January 2026. This sets out the following objective: ‘conserve and enhance the Borough’s landscapes, habitats and species, expand green and blue corridors, make effective use of land and resources, minimise carbon emissions, manage flood risk and increase resilience to weather extremes’.

The published version of the Local Plan will include policies setting out how these objective and Bolton specific biodiversity issues will be addressed. Land Use Consultants (LUC) have been appointed to carry out the ‘Bolton Open Space and Green and Blue Infrastructure Study’. This will deliver a robust evidence base in relation to open space assessment and standards, protected open land policy and the strategic green and blue infrastructure network,

The Local Development Scheme sets out that Local Plan publication will take place in Summer 2026, followed by submission to the Planning Inspectorate Winter 2026, examination spring/summer 2027 and adoption winter 2027.

• The Local Nature Recovery Strategy: The Environment Act (2021) stipulated Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) must be developed to agree regional priorities and actions for nature recovery.  The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) was appointed as the Responsible Authority to deliver the LNRS for Greater Manchester, including Bolton and nine other neighbouring local authorities. Bolton Council, through its Planning and Greenspace departments, was a key consultee in the development of the LNRS, which was adopted by Bolton Council and GMCA in 2025.
• Climate Change and Sustainability Strategy: Bolton’s Climate Change Strategy (2021-2030) aims to reduce carbon emissions that contribute to climate change and lessen the impact of our collective activities on the environment. Natural Environment and Climate Resilience is one of the strategy’s key pillars and includes specific aims and KPIs linked to biodiversity such as increasing biodiversity linked to developments, planting trees and protecting tree canopy cover.

4. The actions the Council has completed, either alone or in partnership with others, that benefit biodiversity.

Designated sites: Many of Bolton’s most important and best loved wildlife sites are designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), Sites of Biological Importance (SBIs) or Local Nature Reserves (LNRs). The Greater Manchester Ecology Unit (GMEU), the ecology service for the 10 Greater Manchester Local Authorities, carries out a rolling programme assessing the borough’s SBIs – monitoring their ecological condition, advising on required improvement works and identifying sites for inclusion or removal from the designated sites list. During the reporting period eight new wildlife sites were added to the SBI register for Bolton.

Elizabeth Park: A major achievement for nature was the creation of Elizabeth Park - the first new park in Bolton town centre for over 120 years. This small park was thoughtfully designed to support biodiversity through wildflower planting and inclusion of climate-resilient rain gardens.

Management plans: Habitat surveys and management plans ensure nature conservation actions effectively protect and enhance biodiversity. During the reporting period, management plans have been in place or created for 11 of Bolton’s most valuable wildlife sites including Nob End, Lostock Hall Mire, Middle Brook Sidings & Marsh, Doffcocker Lodge, Darcy Lever Gravel Pit, Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal (West), Moses Gate, Eatock Lodge, Hall Lee Bank Park, Haslam Park and Signing Clough. These plans have informed conservation work performed by the Council, voluntary groups and other partners.

Partnerships

Bolton Council works extensively with voluntary groups and environmental NGOs to protect and enhance our greenspaces for nature. These partnerships leverage the expertise, experience and enthusiasm of our partner organisations to deliver biodiversity improvements across the borough.

Voluntary groups and Bolton Green Umbrella: Bolton benefits from a uniquely large and dedicated network of volunteers who manage conservation projects across the borough's most significant nature sites. Established in 2016, Bolton Green Umbrella (BGU) supports this environmental work by distributing small grants to grassroots initiatives. To bolster these biodiversity improvements, Bolton Council provided BGU with £25,000 per annum to underwrite its grant programme. In recognition of the immense value of this volunteer work, the Council mainstreamed this funding into its core budget in 2025

City of Trees: The community forest for Greater Manchester, City of Trees works to create a greener, more resilient region through large-scale tree planting and woodland management. Bolton Council’s extensive collaboration with the charity over the last five years has delivered tangible environmental results across the borough. Key achievements include the establishment of 32 hectares of woodland and the planting of 447 semi-mature "standard" trees on Council land.

Lancashire Wildlife Trust (LWT): As a key partner for delivering biodiversity improvements in the Borough, LWT have worked on several important projects on council sites over the last five years:

• Wet Willow Project: This project is vital to protecting the willow tit, a red-listed species facing a critical decline in breeding pairs. By enhancing wet willow habitats across Greater Manchester—including nine sites in Bolton—the initiative strengthens local biodiversity. Beyond habitat restoration, the project builds robust nature networks and invites public participation through citizen science, community events, and hands-on conservation activities.
• Red Moss: This project focused on restoring Red Moss, a rare lowland raised peat bog. Initial phases prepared the peatland for habitat creation by installing bunding, dams, and water control pipes to stabilise water levels. These interventions facilitated the creation of new fen habitats and bog pools, specifically designed to attract dragonflies and damselflies. The final stages involved intensive vegetation management, including the removal of dominant purple moor grass and invasive Himalayan balsam to prevent them from outcompeting native bog flora.
• Wildflower Meadow Maintenance: This involved management of some of Bolton’s most important wildflower meadows including at Nob End SSSI, Ousels Nest and Seven Acres Country Park. Management has included scrub clearance and annual grass cuts and collection.

5. How the Council has taken account of Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS), protected site strategies and species conservation strategies.

The Local Nature Recovery Strategy for the Greater Manchester city region covers Bolton. The strategy was developed by Greater Manchester Combined Authority in partnership with the 10 GM local authorities, along with other stakeholders. The strategy was approved by Bolton’s Executive Cabinet Member for Climate and the Environment in July 2025 and was formally launched by GCMA in September 2025.

The strategy sets out a range of objectives to protect and enhance nature and includes a Nature Network that maps the boroughs most valuable wildlife site and opportunity areas for habitat enhancement. These objectives and maps have directly informed council decisions on identifying sites for BNG habitat banks and for positive conservation management. For instance, we have commissioned an updated Habitat Management Plan for the Upper Bradshaw Valley and Doffcocker Lodge, two of Bolton’s Local Nature Reserves identified as core sites in the LNRS nature network.

The Local Nature Recovery Strategy encourages developers to align BNG delivery with the LNRS areas.  Where habitat enhancement is aligned with the LNRS maps this provides for a greater biodiversity unit value when calculating the pre and post development values.  Habitat loss within the LNRS mapped areas will conversely result in large biodiversity unit costs.

Protected site strategies and species conservation strategies are not yet live but will inform council actions when they become available.
 

6. How the Council plans to comply with the biodiversity duty in the next reporting period (five years).

Over the next five years, we will focus on protecting and improving biodiversity across the borough. We’ll do this by surveying our key nature sites and working closely with local stakeholders, volunteer groups, and environmental organisations through platforms like our Cleaner and Greener Forum.

To support these efforts, we are developing a new Local Plan and updating specific policies, such as our Tree and Woodland Policy. Our newly adopted Greenspace and Local Nature Recovery strategies also set clear goals: tackling invasive species, protecting green spaces for the community, and ensuring more of our wildlife sites are under active conservation.
 

7. The actions the Council has carried out to meet Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) obligations

When new planning applications are submitted to the Local Planning Authority (LPA) we require an assessment of Biodiversity Net Gain, including the provision of a biodiversity metric and draft biodiversity gain plan.  The Council work with officers from the Greater Manchester Ecology Unit (GMEU) who are the Council’s ecological consultant.  Officers from GMEU assess the submissions through the planning application stage.  When planning applications are approved the LPA place the relevant planning conditions to secure on/off site provision of the required Biodiversity Net Gain and appropriate management of the BNG which is provided.

Development Management planning officers have received initial BNG training from officers at GMEU and from other companies which also includes in-house training.  We also work with colleagues in Greenspace Management and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority to increase knowledge and expertise.

While Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) can often be delivered within a development's redline boundary, an estimated 20-40% of obligations will require off-site enhancement. This occurs when on-site delivery is unfeasible, prompting developers to either improve their own external land or purchase units from third-party Habitat Banks. 

Bolton Council is currently developing proposals for Habitat Banks on Council-owned land to: 

• Protect and enhance local wildlife sites.
• Facilitate development by meeting BNG needs and preventing planning delays.
• Align with regional strategies, including the Local Plan, Greenspace Strategy, Places for Everyone (PfE), and Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS).
• Generate revenue to reinvest in wildlife conservation.
• Improve public health through increased access to nature.
• Retain ecological benefits directly within the Bolton borough. 

The Council has identified a pipeline of potential sites, completed baseline surveys, and developed plans for the first two locations, with the goal of bringing these online by 2026. To support this, the Council is collaborating with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) to foster an active regional BNG market. This includes working with consultants Terranomics to identify opportunities and helping GMCA establish a Responsible Body service. This service will provide the legal mechanism to secure Habitat Banks for the mandatory 30-year minimum, a vital step for delivering enhancements on Council land.
 

8. Details of BNG resulting, or expected to result, from Biodiversity Gain Plans the Council has approved.

A Biodiversity Gain Plan (BGP) is a mandatory document in the English planning system that demonstrates how a development will achieve a minimum 10% Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG). Under the Environment Act 2021, developers must submit this plan to their Local Planning Authority (LPA) to "discharge" a standard planning condition before any construction can legally begin.

The Greater Manchester Ecology Unit (GMEU), the combined ecology service for the 10 Greater Manchester LAs, assesses BGPs on behalf of Bolton LPA and records them via the Exacom software package.

Four Biodiversity Gain Plans have been approved, where all final required information has been provided (i.e. final metric, biodiversity gain plan and HMMP, where necessary). This is due to provide a total net gain of approximately 0.27 area habitat units.

Three developments are providing BNG fully off-site whilst the other one involves a mixture of on-site and off-site BNG; all the off-site BNG has been allocated to a habitat bank in Bolton (Horwich BGS-021024004). One of these development sites include the provision of “significant” on-site BNG, which will require monitoring over a 30-year period.

How Net Gain has been achieved:

Of the four biodiversity gain plans approved, the net gain has been achieved as set out in the below:

Summary of onsite and offsite BNG unit changes for the 4 approved gain plans:

The total net change in biodiversity units for each habitat type for the approved Gain Plans are:

Details of the individual approvals along with the overall percentage net gain:

BNG unit gains included Grassland, Heathland and Scrub, and Urban habitat types. Neither Line of Trees/Hedges nor Watercourse Unit types were included in the approved plans. No irreplaceable habitat was negatively affected by the Biodiversity Gain Plans. Where offsite BNG units were included, all units are located inside the LPA boundary or National Character Area (NCA) of the development site.
 

9. How the Council Plans to meet Biodiversity Net Gain obligations in the next reporting period.

During the next reporting period the council will meet our BNG obligation as follows:

• From a Development Management perspective, we will continue to assess all new applications where the requirement for BNG applies and to ensure that all new development is compliant with the requirements.
• Ensuring the Local Plan sets policies that deliver objectives in relation to biodiversity
• We will provide all planning officers, including Support team roles and the Discharge of Condition officer with further training on BNG.  We will also seek to review any changes in legislation or guidance e.g. updated National Planning Policy Framework and how this may affect the implementation of this policy requirement within the Borough.
• Continue to work with officers in Greenspace Management to promote the use of Council owned sites which can provide off-site BNG opportunities through the development process.
• We will work to develop and deliver a pipeline of habitat banks on Council-owned land to ensure the ecological benefits of BNG are retained within the borough and support the council’s strategic aim to deliver thriving, nature friendly greenspace.