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| Entrance to the shopping centre - with the car park behind it |
Hats off to the initiative of Jacqui Green who runs her own Cambridgeshire-based environmental consultancy!
When she was commissioned to carry out a survey of the birds and other wildlife within a site which accommodates the retail heart of Grimsby, she conducted part of it on the roof of a nine-storey car park.
What is more she did so on a cold day in December.
Equipped with a pair of x8 binoculars and a x20 telescope, she carried out her research between 8am (just after dawn) and 10.30 am, then from 1.30pm to 4pm when the light and visibility deteriorated.
The weather was bright and clear in the morning, changing to dull with low cloud in the afternoon.
As well as monitoring the site from high up on the car park, she also went walkabout.
Her route was from outside the Freshney shopping centre west car park along the River Freshney to the pedestrian crossing of the river, thence following Alexandra Dock to Corporation Road before returning and walking to the east and south of the centre.
At all times, she recorded birds on the ground, in the air, in bushes and on the water, in total recording a creditable total of 22 species of which the undoubted star was a kingfisher.
The other 21 were:
Cormorant
Mute swan
Mallard
Moorhen
Little grebe
Lesser black-backed gull
Herring gull
Black-headed gull
Carrion crow
Magpie
Wood pigeon
Collared dove
Feral pigeon
Starling
Blackbird
Pied wagtail
House sparrow
Chaffinch
Goldfinch
Dunnock
Robin
Ms Green, of the appropriately-named Green Environmental Consultants Ltd, of Swaffham Bulbeck, had been engaged by London-based property company BMO Real Estate Partners to carry out the assessment as part of the planning formalities for a proposed nine-screen cinema (plus seven restaurants) project in Freshney Place, Grimsby, which North East Lincolnshire Council is keen to see revitalised.
She did not skimp on her research, even going so far as to speculating on whether piling work during the construction phase might have a detrimental impact on fish in the River Freshney and adjacent waterways such as Riverhead where The Barge pub is moored
.
Before her visit to Grimsby, she also carried out a desk survey of historical bird sightings which revealed that the following species (stand by for some surprises!) have been recorded within 2km of the site: Avocet, barn owl, Bewick's swan, bittern, black redstart, black tern, black-tailed godwit, brambling, Cetti's warbler, crossbill, rosefinch, common scoter, fieldfare, firecrest, green sandpiper, hen harrier, hobby, Lapland bunting, little gull, little ringed plover, little tern, long-tailed duck, marsh harrier, Mediterranean gull, merlin, osprey, peregrine falcon, purple sandpiper, red kite, red-backed shrike, red-throated diver, redwing, roseate tern, ruff, scaup, shorelark, spoonbill, velvet scoter, whimbrel, whooper swan, wood sandpiper, woodlark.
In her report, Ms Green says: “Such urbanised sites are usually very poor for wildlife, having few attractive habitats, little food and are frequently lit at night.
“However, such features can provide nesting opportunities for birds on large exposed roofs and possibly niches for bats.
“Ducks were seen on the Riverhead but there was no indication that this area would be significant for birds.
”The building frontage is well sealed with secure roofs combined with a lit open area, indicate negligible opportunities for bats.
“There were few birds using the proposed development area except for scavenging gulls, starlings and feral pigeons.
“It is worth noting that, at the far east of the hardstanding, close to a spur of the River Freshney, two established pollarded willow trees together with three fruit-bearing trees were being used for feeding by finches and blackbirds.”
Because an environmental consultant is commissioned by the developer, the objectivity, impartiality and integrity of the final report can never be 100 per cent.
Ms Green acknowledges such when she says her report takes into account "the particular instructions and requirements of our client”.
She further notes that her initial document was "revised", presumably at the instigation of the developer, lest any unfavourable wording might lessen the prospect of the application being approved.
However, few familiar with the area could reasonably question the report's conclusion (subsequently endorsed by the council’s ecology officer, Mike Sleight) that “the site is typical of an urban area, with hardscape dominating, and has little wildlife potential”.
A limitation of such documents is that they provide only a snapshot of part of a single day.
If the consultant had returned in spring or summer, her list would almost certainly hjave included additional species such as wagtails, swallows, swifts and maybe one or two warbler species.
It is a general planning principle that proposed developments should result in “no loss of biodiversity and preferably gain”.
Disappointingly, Ms Green does not propose the installation of nestboxes for house sparrows or nestbricks for swifts - initiatives which would most likely be beneficial to biodiversity.
Her downbeat assessment is as follows: “Wildlife enhancement features on sites such as this are limited and questionable value.
“Planting of some new trees on the banks of the River Freshney or other nearby land would be more beneficial.
“Non-biodiversity options might include green features for the roof such as solar panels. A contribution to costs associated with enhancements to the River Freshney might be an alternative.”
The application was approved by the council’s planning committee last month (December 2017).
* Below: Scenes at Freshney Place, its multi-storey car park and nearby habitat.
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