Horwich Habitat Bank

County: Greater Manchester
Local planning authority (LPA): Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council
National Character Area (NCA): Southern Pennines
Biodiversity gain sites register number: BGS-021024004 & BGS-021024005

Birds-eye render of Horwich Habitat Bank before restoration

Biodiversity Units

High distinctiveness habitats

Ponds (priority habitat)

Medium distinctiveness habitats

Ditches
Mixed scrub
Other neutral grassland
Ponds (non-priority habitat)
Other lowland acid grassland

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Habitat Bank overview

At our Habitat Bank nestled between Horwich and Bolton – located less than 20 miles from Manchester city centre – we are establishing stunning new habitats across almost 50 hectares of low-yielding grade 4 pasture farmland, including neutral grassland, acid grassland, native mixed scrub, ponds, and ditches.

Soft rush and grassland thriving at Horwich Habitat Bank — New grassland habitats now established on-site at Horwich Habitat Bank

BNG delivery

At every Habitat Bank, we always look at the land to determine what can be achieved from the very start. Our biodiversity experts assess the soil, wildlife, vegetation, geology, hydrology, management history, and connectivity across the local landscape.

We take a baseline for each Habitat Bank using the statutory biodiversity metric. We carefully select the best possible habitats for us to establish so we can deliver and demonstrate measurable biodiversity gains over time.

A new pond that's filled with water at Horwich Habitat Bank - it's small and lies beside a small tree amongst a diverse grassland, with Bolton on the horizon — One of the new ponds we’ve now established at Horwich Habitat Bank

Coverage

Biodiversity Units from Horwich Habitat Bank offer an effective local off-site BNG solution for the Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council LPA area and the Southern Pennines NCA. They also provide adjacent coverage to the LPAs and NCAs listed below.

Adjacent LPAs	Adjacent NCAs
Chorley Council	Dark Peak
Salford City Council	Yorkshire Dales
Bury Metropolitan Borough Council	Lancashire Valleys
Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council	Pennine Dales Fringe
Blackburn w/Darwen Borough Council	Lancashire Coal Measures
	Manchester Pennine Fringe
	Yorkshire Southern Pennine Fringe
	Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire & Yorkshire Coalfield

Our vision

Our Horwich Habitat Bank provides a perfect steppingstone for nature between local moorland and the urban areas of Greater Manchester and West Lancashire. The site is located to the south of the West Pennine Moors, parts of which are notified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). It also has connectivity with other habitats nearby, including species-rich grasslands, ponds, and pockets of woodland and scrub.

We’ve established species-rich meadows, with ponds and enhanced ditches within the naturally wetter depressions, and habitat creation works are now complete. As the Horwich Habitat Bank develops over the years, we eagerly anticipate native wildlife, such as curlew and great crested newt, returning to the area. Protected species already residing there will benefit from the habitat improvements, including lapwing, skylark, grasshopper warbler, common toad, and brown hare.

Environment Bank has funded a conservation grazing course so that the landowner can farm traditional native cattle breeds on the Habitat Bank. The cattle are improving the quality of the landscape by sustainably grazing the grasslands and scrub. While the cattle are grazing for conservation purposes, they’re also being reared for meat production to enhance the farmer’s existing farm business.

We’re also really pleased that the public will be able to access the site via existing footpaths, so that they can witness as Horwich Habitat Bank continues to develop over the years.

Render of Horwich Habitat Bank with habitats restored, showing lush meadows and ponds with Manchester city skyline in the background — Our long-term vision for Horwich Habitat Bank

Our progress

In 2025, Environment Bank also introduced grazing ponies to join the farmer’s cattle in naturally managing the Horwich Habitat Bank. With two different grazers, we can manage different plant species, and this helps to improve biodiversity even more.

We chose Exmoor ponies, which are excellent shredders, to graze the soft rush habitats, and borrowed a herd of them from a local vet and pony expert. The ponies enjoy eating soft rush because it offers them a sweet, green ‘bite’ when there aren’t as many tasty options during the winter months.

It’s important that the soft rush is managed to encourage other flora to flourish. By eating the rush and trampling dense tussocky grasses, the ponies help to create the right conditions to allow a greater variety of grassland species on this site.

These ponies are a small, hardy species and the landscape at Horwich Habitat Bank is quite similar to their native home, Exmoor National Park. They are a rare breed that almost became extinct at the end of the second world war and their numbers have improved due to the dedicated help of supporters and specialist breeders.