PLANS to grow 130,000 new trees across Halton borough is well underway with thousands being planted this week on two of the main sites.

Halton Borough Council’s ‘Big Halton Forest’ initiative was first agreed in 2022 and a grassy hillside off Factory Lane in Widnes has been selected as a piece of land to be home to more than 3000 trees.

Adjacent to this land, a new cemetery has also successfully welcomed 500 new trees to its plot.

This planting was funded with £30,000 from the Liverpool City Region Environment Fund.

Thousands of shrubs are also in the process of being planted on the two sites, with the hope of making the area a greener environment for the future.

The first year’s focus was on securing initial resources to enable the project. This has been largely completed with the first external funding of £300,000 secured - meaning no added burden to local taxpayers.

Visiting the site this week, the Council’s lead on Climate Change, Cllr Phil Harris, said: “It is a large logistical challenge to arrange these plantings over the next seven years but we believe it can be done.

“This project will also provide the opportunity to innovate, such as the local supply of trees that has already been agreed in principle and new forms of partnership working.’’

Plans for 2023/2024 will entail securing further external funding for the project and completing major planting during the winter months.

Partnerships are in the process of being made across the borough with local social housing providers, schools and others who will use the land to plant trees.

Halton Housing have already began to work in partnership with the Council on the planting scheme, along with Ormiston Chadwick Academy.

The Parklands sports club has also committed to plantings.

Developers of housing and commercial sites are also being approached to include more trees in their developments alongside biodiversity gains that will become law later in the year. Options to help create more orchards are also being explored as well as grasslands.

Cllr Harris added: “In addition to the Big Halton Forest project, a serious focus is being developed on the gains to be made from Bio-Net-Diversity.

“BNG needs to be made into a real game changer for existing greenspaces and in new developments across Widnes and Runcorn.’’

The hope is that every electoral ward across the borough will benefit from tree planting thanks to the programme over the next seven years, with hundreds of sites in the pipeline.

While the Big Halton Forest is principally about tree planting and other green infrastructure it also includes ambitions to improve local waterways, which will also be explored during the next two years as part of efforts to improve bio-diversity in Halton.