Manchester birding hot-spot threatened by development

Elton Reservoir near Bury is set to be surrounded by 3,500 new homes, a school and three new roads as part of the Greater Manchester Places for Everyone development plan.

Plans for 1,250 homes on green belt land at a 63-ha site in Walshaw are set to be scrapped, but thousands of homes are still planned for the popular birding destination at Elton Reservoir.

Elton Reservoir has attracted rare visitors like this popular Spotted Sandpiper in 2022 (R Thew).

The Friends of Bury Folk has campaigned against parts of the Places for Everyone plan, but the council has proposed the dropping of the Walshaw development over the new Elton Reservoir homes due to the 'strategic benefits' of building at the latter site.

Elton Reservoir is a popular site among birders in Greater Manchester, especially in winter when it regularly attracts roosting Iceland Gull and Caspian Gull, as well as locally scarce wildfowl, with a Long-tailed Duck in November and December 2022 being one recent highlight.

Terns and waders regularly drop in to the reservoir in spring and autumn, with scarcities such as two White-winged Terns together in 2014 and a Spotted Sandpiper in 2022 delighting birders from the local area and beyond.

Developers Peel L&P say that the proposals at Elton Reservoir "will create a new parkland community of lasting quality" but their promise to work on the reservoir "to provide opportunities for water-based recreation" has concerned regular birders at the site.

Peel L&P has also committed to maintaining "valued habitats" to enhance biodiversity value.