About Us...

The Big Halton Forest is part of delivering a green recovery after the Pandemic and tackling the climate emergency head on, by planting trees and enhancing the green infrastructure of Runcorn and Widnes & its villages.

It will work with individuals, communities, organisations, and businesses with the aim of adding a new tree for every citizen by 2030 across the Borough of Halton. This will be in addition to the approximate 1,500 new trees we plant each year.

Our Goals

  • Plant 130,000 trees, one for every person across Halton, within 8 years.
  • Restore or expand greenspaces and woodlands for the benefit of both communities and wildlife.
  • Inspire a passion for trees, woods & waterfronts

A symbolic launch of the Big Halton Forest took place on Thursday 24th March 2022 outside Runcorn Town Hall by the Leader of Halton Borough Council Cllr Mike Wharton and Cllr Phil Harris the Executive Board member for Climate Change. Discussion are ongoing with a number of organisations to provide external funding for the project and to take part in the creating the Forest.

The most recent progress in January 2024 includes;

  • Advanced discussions for HBC to re-join the Mersey Forest in a new provisional agreement in early 2024.
  • The latest partner planting sites in February 2024 include Ormiston Chadwick Academy & The Parklands Sports Club. Over 200 students are expected to participate in the scheme at OCA.
  • Halton Housing have expanded their programme of planting trees on their housing estates and ensuring long term maintenance, with Halton BC supplying the tree stock.​

One of the features of the Big Halton Forest will be to encourage donations to a Forest Fund that is being established in 2024 from businesses, individuals and organisations who support the aims of the Big Halton Forest. More detail of that will follow during 2024.

You can find out about our projects as they develop in the coming months and years as we will post links to them on dedicated web pages. We will be adding useful resources and other information to help people get involved in tree planting and signposts to potential funding sources. Please bear with us.​


Improving Bio-diversity...

In addition to the 2030 pledge on trees, the Big Halton Forest will also include exploring the establishment of a localised source for trees and eventually other plants to support the development of the forest.

This will see the Council explore tendering an offer to nurseries or farmers to act as a supplier for the Council by agreeing to grow the trees it supplies to the council from seeds and cuttings from Halton's existing trees. It is also intended to explore if other options exist.

The aim is to start cultivation of the trees in 2025 with a view to supplying local trees for The Big Halton forest in 2026/27. In the meantime, other traditional procurement will take place.

Seeds and cuttings will be taken from trees and plants within Halton, meaning that they are much more adapted to our climate and conditions than plants that come from other parts of the UK. By choosing local provenance it also reduces the risk of introducing foreign diseases and pests to the area and preserves local genetics and regional variations within plant species.

The plants and trees grown at the supplier selected will be used to help boost biodiversity within the borough, through providing more wildflowers for our pollinators and more trees for our birds and other wildlife. The initial focus will be on trees.

The Environment Bill that was passed into law in 2021 will help to secure more improvements from developers and help ensure Bio Diversity Net Gain with a 10% minimum in future. Halton BC will be putting such gains into improving our greenspaces and waterways, especially when the regulatory framework is finally in place. This is currently expected in early 2024, following Government postponements during 2023.​