ENVIRONMENTAL groups have united in opposition to plans for two football pitches and changing rooms on the site of a wildlife haven.

Longden North West want to create the sports facilities on land north of Thicketford Road, between Tonge Moor and Breightmet, which is classed as a Site of Biological Importance (SBI).

Councillors were due to pass their verdict on the scheme today. It would also involve a changing block and car parking. The grassland site, part of the Bradshaw Brook wildlife corridor, harbours rare plant life.

It is said by green groups to provide a "breathing space" for the north Bolton area which would be undermined if the pitch plan went ahead.

Objectors include the Greater Manchester Ecology Unit, funded by the county's 10 councils, the Lancashire branch of the Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE), the Wildlife Trust and Bolton Countryside Service.

Martyn Walker, from Bolton's Wildlife Trust, said: "It's one of those sites which contains species which you don't really see elsewhere in Bolton."

His concerns were echoed by CPRE planning officer Julie Davies, who said: "We are concerned that this application vastly reduces valuable natural open space which is enjoyed for many for quiet informal recreation."

She added: "Ultimately the pitches will make the urban area appear to be encroaching on the Bradshaw Valley."

The intervention of environmental groups is expected to be influential.

SBIs do not have any special legal protection but the council's Unitary Development Plan, which sets out a blueprint for future development, says they must not be built on unless developers can prove there is a compelling need.

Planners are recommending the scheme is turned down because they say Longden have failed to prove such a need.

No one from Longden North West was available for comment.