Newspaper report indicating threat to Swifts at home of Archbishop of Canterbury may be wide of mark

                       

The planning application has been submitted on behalf of the Church of England by agants Savills which has submitted this Swift's-eye-view of the Old Palace

A NEWSPAPER  report suggesting risk of displacement to  nesting Swifts at the Archbishop' of Canterbury's  house in the Kent city may be unnecessarily alarmist.

In today's edition, the Sunday Telegraph warns of "trouble" as a result of a proposal  to install solar panels on the roof of the Grade I Old Palace  in time for next year when the first female incumbent, Dame Sarah Mullally, is due to move in.

However, The Wryneck has found  no evidence of Swifts nesting either here or in the cathedral itself.

Assuming City of Canterbury Council grants consent for the project, there is likely to be a planning condition to safeguard the welfare of four species of  bat - Pipistrelle,  Brown long-eared, Natterer’s and Daubenton’s - that, by contrast, are believed to be present in the Old Palace roofspace.

The last three of these species are known to be light-sensitive.

A report by the environmental consultancy, Adonis Blue (a subsidiary of Kent Wildlife Trust) states: "Any works will be restricted to daylight hours so as to not require external lighting. 

"Hibernating bats will periodically leave the roost to find drinking water.

"In order to avoid disturbance, there will be no use of overnight lighting in the vicinity of any roost, including any lighting mounted on the scaffolding or, for security purposes, on machinery."