Local Plan Issues and Options (Regulation 18)

Comment

Representation ID: 2870

Received: 21/08/2025

Respondent: The Woodland Trust

I&O_3041
Yes - we would propose introducing a requirement for developers to reach 20% Biodiversity Net Gain, rather than the statutory 10%. This would ensure that nature is actually left in a better state than it is found and that Cheshire West's natural environment is further enhanced. This would not come at a significant additional cost to developers, with evidence from Swale Borough Council showing that the cost to developers of reaching 10% per dwelling is £948, whilst jumping to 20% per dwelling is only an additional £180. This means that requiring developers to reach 20% BNG is value for money financially, as well as making good sense ecologically.

Comment

Representation ID: 2871

Received: 21/08/2025

Respondent: The Woodland Trust

I&O_3042
The Local Plan should ensure that Cheshire's Local Nature Recovery Strategy and Mersey Forest's latest Forest Plan are embedded into it to ensure cohesion across all three documents. The Local Plan should also seek to identify opportunities for the Mersey Forest to support tree planting, as well as introduce ambitious tree canopy cover targets to ensure an equitable distribution of trees and woodland across the locality to ensure access to trees and woodlands for the whole of Cheshire West's population, including in urban areas.  In urban areas, we would like to see the Local Plan do more to encourage urban greening. This could include utilising use of the Woodland Trust’s Tree Equity Score, which Mersey Forest has utilised in their own plan. Tree Equity Score UK combines information from a variety of sources to give each LSOA (or neighbourhood) a single measure from 0 to 100—the lower the score, the greater the need for investment in trees. Any neighbourhood with a score of 70 and below are considered highest priority for investment.

Comment

Representation ID: 2872

Received: 21/08/2025

Respondent: The Woodland Trust

I&O_3043
Yes, however we would like to see a preference for native species, as well as assurances that trees utilised in planting in the locality have been sourced from the UK & Ireland (UKISG). Local tree nurseries should also be used where possible. To help support this policy, we would also reccomend a dedicated tree strategy is introduced by Cheshire West to help inform their policy on tree procurement and tree planting.