A swift resolution

Andrew moves motion to restore bird habitat

Motion passed on a free vote with cross-party support

 

Earlier this month, I received an email from a Billericay resident on behalf of the Essex Birdwatching Society, inviting me to sign their petition to help save the swift by urging the Government to make it a requirement that 'swift bricks' be installed in new housing. I am not a big fan of signing petitions, to be frank. I get sent quite a few of them as a councillor and they are often a bit cranky and eccentric. I am also not one to get particularly 'touchy-feely'. I have kept pets and like animals. I still eat meat and use animal-based products but I have, I hope, a healthy appreciation for animal welfare. But I am certainly not an ornithologist or a bird-fancier. Other than a couple of lovebirds we had when I was a kid, I have never been much interested in birds. I am, of course, aware of what a swift is, though I have never been particularly interested in them, any more than the clouds in the sky. Like most birds, to my mind, they are just up there, flapping about, not bothering me and I am not bothering them... Or so I thought.

The statistic that caught my eye was that 50% of our swift population is gone. Halved! That figure shocked me. Like I say, I was vaguely aware of the swift. It is a fairly iconic bird. I had no idea, however, that they were so imperiled and, despite myself, I found myself reading and researching. The plight of these birds, I discovered, is no great mystery. They have lost their nesting sites, pure and simple. These were typically under the eaves of buildings. This took me back to my own childhood. Growing up, we always had birds nesting on our bungalow - probably not swifts, as they like high, deep crevices, but we certainly had nests! Alas, many of those nesting sites are now long gone. We have lost so many of our old houses and buildings, or the eaves have been blocked off in refurbishments. Roof spaces have been filled and swift numbers have declined accordingly.

So our friend the swift now finds himself on the U.K. Red List as a species of 'conservation concern' and he is not alone. Many similar bird species suffer the same problem. It is not an insoluble one though. In my researches, I discovered a similar motion that had been passed earlier this year by Cllr. Robert Nemeth, a Conservative councillor on Brighton & Hove City Council. His motion also included the installation of 'beebricks' to help our endangered pollinators.

So I decided to do the Essex Birdwatchers one better and I moved the following motion at Full Council last week:

 

To be moved by Councillor Schrader –

Council notes:

The ongoing challenges faced by our bee population and the positive contribution of our Pollinator Action Plan.

That the iconic and irreplaceable swifts, which define our summers, have declined by over 50% across the U.K.

That swifts spend more time airborne than any other bird, sometimes only landing when returning to their nests in our walls from Africa but that modern building methods block swifts out.

That every Local Planning Authority has a statutory duty to have regard to conserving biodiversity as part of the planning process and planning policy at both a national and local level strongly supports the need to protect and conserve biodiversity and to seek enhancements, including measures to extend existing and support for new or isolated habitats but the current metric for calculating biodiversity net gain does not include existing nesting sites in buildings.

This Council calls

· For swift boxes and bee bricks to be required in all new housing, to provide homes for these birds as well as other red-listed species, such as house martins, starlings and house sparrows. These can be designed into buildings without conflicting with insulation and should be made a requirement for new housing in the borough; and

· Tasks the relevant officers to consider what changes may be needed to local planning policies and processes to ensure a majority of new developments in the borough incorporate swift boxes and/or bee bricks as an inexpensive and easily achievable biodiversity net gain for the borough.

 

It made sense to me to include beebricks, as the trials and tribulations of our beleaguered bee population are now well-documented. Indeed, it was my friend and colleague the Mayor of Basildon, Cllr. Luke Mackenzie (Con, Pitsea South-East), who moved a motion at a previous Full Council that Basildon adopt a Pollinator Action Plan to help our struggling bees and, indeed, I seconded his motion and it was precisely what the Council did (and quite rightly so). It occured to me that environmentalism is high on the agenda at the moment and in many respects not helped by the divisive antics like the Extinction Rebellion loons or the Just Stop Oil nutters gluing themselves to roads and carrying out acts of criminal damage. But the plight of the swifts has nothing to do with global warming or the 'climate crisis' and we do not all have to live in wigwams or adopt vegan diets to give the swift a ‘liveable future’. The cause is simple - loss of habitat - and the solution is equally simple. Restore the habitat.

Adult swifts, I have learned, are known for their site-fidelity. They return to the same niche year after year and live for up to 20 years. They spend more time airborne than any other bird, sometimes only landing when returning from Africa to their nests in our walls and they are tidy and quiet neighbours. Modern building methods have blocked the swifts out. The solution is simple. You could attach a swift box to the side of a building but we can also easily build swiftbricks into new buildings. They do not conflict with the insulation and are about the size of an ordinary brick. They can even make them to match just about any brick, stone or other material, are relatively inexpensive and extremely versatile. They do not require any maintenance or cleaning - no piles of droppings or anything like that - and surveys show they are also used by other red-listed birds, such as house martins, great and blue tits, starlings and house sparrows.

 (a swift brick)

Now, although I am a frontbencher nowadays, I moved the motion in a personal capacity and Conservative colleagues were given a free vote. It was not universally supported on my side, as Tories tend to be weary of over-regulation and imposing onerous and pettifogging rules. Nonetheless, I was pleased to be seconded by the Leader of the Council, Cllr. Andrew Baggott (Con, Burstead), who spoke eloquently in support, as did the Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning & Infrastructure, Cllr. Dr. Richard Moore (Con, Burstead). I was also gratified to receive cross-party backing from the Labour Group, accepting an amendment by Cllr. David Kirkman (Lab, Fryerns) so that bats, hedgehogs and other wildlife also be given consideration. I did find myself, however, in scholarly disagreement with my friend and colleague Cllr. Kevin Wingfield (Con, Laindon Park), who moved an amendment to remove beebricks.

In a pun-laden speech ("'To bee brick or not to bee brick', that is the question that Councillor Schrader has put before this council this evening..."), Kevin articulately contested the efficacy of beebricks. Although supportive of the introduction of swift boxes and in full agreement that helping the bees is essential, he was concerned that research suggests the beebricks may not be effective and, indeed, could be counterproductive and suggested that we take the time to watch what happens in Brighton & Hove.

Of course, I suspected some smart Alec would ask me a load of befuddling technical questions and bamboozle me with the science and, to be frank, it was always bound to be Kev Wingfield. I am, of course, not an ecologist or any kind of expert and I am content to be guided by those far cleverer than I - and, to be frank, they don't come much cleverer than Kev! It is a shame that former councillor Chris Allen is no longer a member of the Council, as I believe he is a trustee of the Essex Beekeepers’ Association. But there was clearly an abundance of caution in the room, as when put to the vote, the Wingfield Amendment passed. I was reminded of something said by Councillor Nemeth, a beekeeper himself, during the debates on this in Brighton & Hove: “There’s a well-known saying in the beekeeping world that if you ask 100 different beekeepers a question then you get 101 different answers.” So I was content to press ahead with my motion, as amended, and keep an eye on the experience of Brighton & Hove and see how the science around beebricks progresses.

On being put to the vote, my motion on swift boxes was eventually passed by 21 votes to 9 (with 2 abstentions).

I leave the niceties and the details to our planning officers but I believe in Brighton & Hove it applies to all new developments over 5 metres tall and they provide guidance to help developers and designers incorporate them into their designs and sets out the types of boxes or bricks that can be installed, how they should be selected, how many are required for each scale of development and where they should be sited, with appropriate advice from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (R.S.P.B.) and others. So, hopefully, I've done my little bit for the swifts at least!