River to get revamp with £1.8m scheme
THE banks of a river are to be restored and natural flood defences bolstered as part of a £1.8m ‘green recovery’ project.
The River Croal in Bolton is one of the priority projects for the Greater Manchester Environment Fund (GMEF) that will establish a network for nature across the region.
As part of the funding, 37 jobs will be created or safeguarded, including 12 traineeships.
The GMEF is being established to deliver the area’s ambition for a ‘clean, carbonneutral, climate resilient city region with a thriving natural environment’, by aligning public and philanthropic funding and attracting private investment.
Managed by the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside, which has a base on Bury Road in Bolton, the fund will be launched in spring.
With the success of a collaborative bid to the Green Recovery Challenge Fund, some projects will start now to demonstrate a desire to provide networks for nature to flourish.
Up to 59 hectares of habitats along the Croal are within the project, with the aim to fund natural flood management projects and peatland restoration, transforming areas into carbon stores.
The River Croal is a tributary of the Irwell and flows eastwards through Bolton, collecting Gilnow Brook and the larger River Tonge at Darcy Lever.
Most of the river is culverted through Bolton town centre, running under Knowsley Street, Market Place and Bridge Street.
It meets the Irwell at Nob End, Kearsley after a total course of around ten miles.
Other Greater Manchester projects include the restoration of 48 hectares of wetland and lowland peat on the mosses in Salford and Wigan, 117 hectares of moorland peat on the Pennines above Oldham and 58 hectares of improved habitats, including island habitats along the Ashton and Rochdale canals.
The Wildlife Trust’s director of nature and wellbeing, Daveen Wallis, said: “This is brilliant news.
“The fund will reflect the bee brand, pollinating projects with financial support so they can blossom and be part of the recovery of nature in Greater Manchester.”