Helping to Shape Manchester’s Environmental Future

Helping to Shape Manchester’s Environmental Future

Helping to Shape Manchester’s Environmental Future
October 20, 2025

Manchester City Council has recently released its draft Local Plan for consultation, and TEP is proud to have played a key role in shaping the city’s environmental policies.



The Environment and Social Infrastructure chapters highlight the vital role of nature and open spaces in city life, from supporting health and wellbeing to improving resilience against climate change and flooding. Policies on green and blue infrastructure, biodiversity, and urban greening put the natural environment at the heart of Manchester’s future development, and ensure natural spaces remain central to the city’s growth.


TEP’s Evidence Behind the Plan


TEP led several foundational studies that informed these policies, working with partners Mersey Rivers Trust, Groundwork Greater Manchester, Lancashire Wildlife Trust and City of Trees who contributed local expertise and consulted with local communities, politicians and environmentalists.

Our studies were:


🌿 Managing Manchester’s Trees:
An assessment of the city’s tree stock and canopy cover, providing ward-by-ward guidance for tree protection and new planting. The study included a nostalgic look back at tree planting initiatives in the city over the last 100 years.


🌿 Our Rivers Our City:
Mapping river valleys and waterways, identifying opportunities for ecological restoration, climate resilience, and improved public access; all measures to help Manchester become a ‘Sponge City’.


🌿 Biodiversity Net Gain Study:
Predicting the likely demand for biodiversity units from the city’s ambitious growth plans and identifying Council-owned land that could become a habitat bank.


🌿 Urban Green Factor Study:
Providing practical guidance for integrating nature-based solutions into new developments, ensuring that growth enhances biodiversity and climatic resilience.


🌿 Open Space Assessment:
Working with the Local plan team to produce webmaps to help them analyse Open Space needs.


Our Arboriculture, Land Management, Landscape Design, Geospatial, Ecology, Planning and Heritage teams collaborated to deliver these studies, providing a broad-ranging evidence base for policies designed to enhance green and blue infrastructure, improve ecosystem services, and ensure Manchester’s future development is sustainable, resilient, and nature-positive.

Fran Hesketh, Technical Director and Founder of TEP, said:

“Contributing to the city’s environmental strategy is a tremendous privilege. Our multi-disciplinary collaboration ensures that our research supports both people and nature, shaping a greener, more resilient Manchester.”

October 30, 2026
Built in 1873 as part of the former Whittingham Asylum, the Grade II listed Church of St John has stood within the Whittingham landscape for more than 150 years. Designed by Manchester architect Henry Littler, the church remained in use until the hospital closed in 1995. Today, its significance lies not only in its architecture and historic associations, but in the surviving details that tell the story of the building, from stencilled decoration and high-quality timberwork to its distinctive cast-iron columns. To help inform the church’s future management, TEP’s Historic Environment and Archaeology team was commissioned to prepare a Conservation Management Plan (CMP) for Homes England. The work began with understanding what makes the building significant. An onsite appraisal and condition review were combined with an assessment of its heritage significance, including the contribution made by its setting. This allowed the team to identify important surviving features and consider the issues affecting the building before translating that evidence into practical principles for its ongoing management. 
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Growing People CIC at Lanjeth Nursery received a TEP Environment Grant to help improve access to the organisation's restored pond habitats in Cornwall.
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TEP's Environment Grant was established to support projects that inspire environmental learning, raise awareness of environmental issues and encourage positive action. Since launching in 2020, the grant has supported 17 projects across the UK, helping individuals, community groups and organisations bring environmental ideas to life. Now in its seventh year, the grant received a record 102 applications from across the UK. Following a detailed review process, funding has been awarded to two projects that stood out for their innovative approaches to community engagement, environmental awareness and learning.
October 30, 2026
Built in 1873 as part of the former Whittingham Asylum, the Grade II listed Church of St John has stood within the Whittingham landscape for more than 150 years. Designed by Manchester architect Henry Littler, the church remained in use until the hospital closed in 1995. Today, its significance lies not only in its architecture and historic associations, but in the surviving details that tell the story of the building, from stencilled decoration and high-quality timberwork to its distinctive cast-iron columns. To help inform the church’s future management, TEP’s Historic Environment and Archaeology team was commissioned to prepare a Conservation Management Plan (CMP) for Homes England. The work began with understanding what makes the building significant. An onsite appraisal and condition review were combined with an assessment of its heritage significance, including the contribution made by its setting. This allowed the team to identify important surviving features and consider the issues affecting the building before translating that evidence into practical principles for its ongoing management. 
October 13, 2026
Growing People CIC at Lanjeth Nursery received a TEP Environment Grant to help improve access to the organisation's restored pond habitats in Cornwall.
October 30, 2026
Built in 1873 as part of the former Whittingham Asylum, the Grade II listed Church of St John has stood within the Whittingham landscape for more than 150 years. Designed by Manchester architect Henry Littler, the church remained in use until the hospital closed in 1995. Today, its significance lies not only in its architecture and historic associations, but in the surviving details that tell the story of the building, from stencilled decoration and high-quality timberwork to its distinctive cast-iron columns. To help inform the church’s future management, TEP’s Historic Environment and Archaeology team was commissioned to prepare a Conservation Management Plan (CMP) for Homes England. The work began with understanding what makes the building significant. An onsite appraisal and condition review were combined with an assessment of its heritage significance, including the contribution made by its setting. This allowed the team to identify important surviving features and consider the issues affecting the building before translating that evidence into practical principles for its ongoing management. 
October 13, 2026
Growing People CIC at Lanjeth Nursery received a TEP Environment Grant to help improve access to the organisation's restored pond habitats in Cornwall.
October 6, 2026
TEP's Environment Grant was established to support projects that inspire environmental learning, raise awareness of environmental issues and encourage positive action. Since launching in 2020, the grant has supported 17 projects across the UK, helping individuals, community groups and organisations bring environmental ideas to life. Now in its seventh year, the grant received a record 102 applications from across the UK. Following a detailed review process, funding has been awarded to two projects that stood out for their innovative approaches to community engagement, environmental awareness and learning.