Warrington LPA BNG

Warrington is a unitary borough on the River Mersey, which runs through the centre from east to west alongside the Manchester Ship Canal. North of the river lie the surviving mosses of the old south Lancashire and north Cheshire peatlands: Risley Moss, an 85-hectare SSSI, Special Area of Conservation and local nature reserve, and Holcroft Moss, an 18-hectare Cheshire Wildlife Trust reserve that is the last uncut lowland raised bog in Cheshire. Woolston Eyes, beside the Ship Canal, is an SSSI and the premier UK breeding site for black-necked grebes, and Rixton Clay Pits near Hollins Green supports the largest breeding population of great crested newts in Cheshire. The Local Plan counts 55 Local Wildlife Sites, 4 local nature reserves, 4 SSSIs and 3 SACs in the borough.

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Biodiversity Net Gain became a legal requirement for major developments in England on 12 February 2024, and for small sites on 2 April 2024. Warrington’s Local Plan 2021/22 to 2038/39 was adopted in December 2023 and includes Policy DC4 Ecological Network. The council’s Annual Monitoring Report of December 2025 says BNG has been secured "in accordance with statutory requirements", and none of the three Supplementary Planning Documents it adopted in July 2024 (Design Guide, Environmental Protection, Planning Obligations) is a BNG document.

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Off-site delivery is a recent local option. Until July 2026 there were no habitat banks in the borough, so developers who could not deliver on site had to buy units elsewhere. On 23 July 2026 the council registered Former Bewsey Tip and Gatewarth Tip, more than 12 hectares between them, on Natural England’s Biodiversity Gain Site Register, producing neutral grassland units that developers can buy locally. The Cheshire and Warrington Local Nature Recovery Strategy 2025-2035, led by Cheshire West and Chester, covers the borough.