Revised Draft Local Plan, Chapter 24: Biodiversity

Creating a fairer Salford by:

• Improving access to nature for people in all parts of the city, including within higher density areas and other neighbourhoods poorly served at present
• Significantly enhancing the city’s overall biodiversity interest for the benefit of existing and future residents

Policy BG1 - Biodiversity spatial strategy

A considerable net gain in biodiversity will be sought across Salford, including through:

1. A significant improvement in the size, quality, diversity and interconnectedness of the city’s habitats, to deliver a coherent and high quality ecological network as part of the wider green infrastructure network
2. The protection, enhancement and recovery of the most valuable existing habitats and species, and the creation of new habitats where possible
3. Increasing opportunities for the movement and dispersion of species across the city and into surrounding areas
4. A range of nature conservation activities within the Great Manchester Wetlands Nature Improvement Area, and seeking opportunities for further designation of Nature Improvement Areas, in accordance with Policy BG2
5. Securing lowland bog restoration and the provision of complementary habitats within the ‘Biodiversity Heartland’, and the improvement of the rest of Chat Moss for species such as breeding birds, brown hare and water vole, in accordance with Policy GI3
6. Delivering coordinated improvements throughout the Irwell Valley, enhancing its role as a strategic wildlife corridor, in accordance with Policy GI4
7. Achieving ‘good’ status across all of the city’s water bodies, in accordance with Policy WA2
8. Requiring new developments to deliver a net gain in biodiversity, in accordance with Policy BG3
9. Implementing a biodiversity offsetting scheme, with the Biodiversity Heartland as a key priority
10. Controlling invasive species as part of improved land management

Biodiversity assets shown on the Policies Map

The local nature reserves, sites of biological importance and ancient woodland in Salford are shown on the Policies Map:

Local Nature Reserves

1. Blackleach Country Park
2. Clifton Country Park
3. Kersal Dale
4. Kersal Moor
5. Three Sisters
6. Worsley Woods
7. Kersal Wetland (proposed)
8. Clifton Moss (proposed)
9. Little Woolden Moss (proposed)

Sites of Biological Importance

10. Alder Forest Marsh
11. Bittern Pits Wood
12. Blackleach Reservoir
13. Botany Bay Wood
14. Brickfield Wood
15. Bridgewater Canal
16. Brindle Heath Junction
17. Cadishead Moss
18. Clifton Country Park
19. Clifton Moss (South)
20. Foxhill Glen
21. Grassland and Heath off Clively Avenue
22. Great Woolden Wood
23. How Clough
24. Kersal Dale
25. Kersal High School Grounds
26. Kersal Moor
27. Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal at Agecroft
28. Marsh near Clifton Junction
29. Middle Wood
30. Old River Irwell
31. Ponds near New Manchester (East)
32. Ponds North of Cleworth Hall (North)
33. River Irwell
34. Salford Quays (North)
35. Springside Reservoirs
36. Three Sisters
37. Towns Gate Lake and Marsh
38. Twelve Yards Road
39. Walkden Reservoir
40. Woodland North of Moss Farm
41. Worsley Filterbeds
42. Worsley Woods

Ancient woodland

43. Ancient Woodland at Clifton Wood (part of Clifton Country Park site of biological importance)

Policy BG2   Nature Improvement Areas

The area of Salford within the Great Manchester Wetlands Nature Improvement Area will be managed so as to:

1. Mitigate the impact of environmental pressures by improving species mobility between Lancashire, Cheshire and Greater Manchester;
2. Make a lasting improvement to some of Britain’s rarest habitats by restoring designated sites and priority habitats;
3. Improve regional and local connectivity for critical species by creating stepping stones and corridors between habitats and populations; and
4. Optimise the ecosystem services provided by all habitats, particularly the carbon storage function of lowland raised bog.

Development will be carefully controlled to support the achievement of these objectives within the Great Manchester Wetlands Nature Improvement Area, and nature conservation projects will be encouraged.

Opportunities for the further designation of Nature Improvement Areas will be sought, with the Irwell Valley being a high priority.

Policy BG3 - Development and biodiversity

All development shall deliver a net gain in biodiversity value.

Development shall avoid having any adverse impact on the nature conservation value of:

1. The Biodiversity Heartland;
2. Local Nature Reserves;
3. Sites of Biological Importance; or
4. Ancient woodland.

Development shall avoid having any adverse impact on other priority habitats or species identified at the European, national, Greater Manchester or local level wherever practicable.

Where an adverse impact on biodiversity is unavoidable then this shall be minimised as far as possible and appropriate compensation provided.

Within the Biodiversity Heartland, development proposals shall take all practicable opportunities to enhance the area’s nature conservation value.

Mitigation of adverse impacts on biodiversity resources

Where mitigation is required to compensate for the reduction or loss of existing biodiversity resources then this shall be provided in line with the following principles with the objective of contributing to the creation of a coherent, high quality ecological network:

1. A preference for on-site habitat provision/enhancement wherever practicable, followed by improvements to sites within the local area, and then other sites elsewhere within Salford;
2. The maintenance and where possible enhancement of the ability of plants and animals including pollinating insects to move, migrate and genetically disperse across the city; and
3. The provision/enhancement of priority habitats identified at the national, Greater Manchester or local level, having regard to the scarcity of that habitat within Salford.

Where mitigation is needed, an offsetting mechanism based on the Natural England biodiversity offsetting metric will be used to calculate requirements. The Biodiversity Heartland will be a high priority for off-site offsetting schemes.

The amount of mitigation required will be determined having regard to:

4. The importance of the biodiversity resources that will be adversely affected, particularly in terms of whether they:
   1. Include priority habitats identified at the national, Greater Manchester or local levels; and/or
   2. Are able to support protected species, priority species or wild birds;
5. The diversity of the biodiversity resources that will be adversely affected, with greater mitigation being required where a mosaic of habitats will be lost or a large number of species affected;
6. The size and quality of the biodiversity resources that will be adversely affected, and their function within wider ecological networks;
7. The impact of the development on the role and resilience of remaining biodiversity resources, for example in terms of their ability to maintain self-sustaining population levels of individual species and/or to adapt to climate change; and
8. Any other issues identified through any ecological assessment of the site.

The biodiversity value of any mitigation proposals will be measured in terms of the likely position five years from the commencement of the proposed development, or the relevant phase thereof, when determining whether that development would result in an overall net gain in biodiversity value. All adverse impacts, irrespective of timescale, will be taken into account when making that determination. This will help to ensure that there is no significant time gap between any negative impacts and the establishment of replacement habitats. Monitoring of mitigation measures will be required to ensure effectiveness, with further mitigation being required in the event of initial mitigation being ineffective.

Policy BG4 - Geodiversity

Development that would have a significant adverse impact on the value of any feature of geodiversity interest will not be permitted.