Swifts pay the price as catalogue of oversights leads to demolition of buildings where they once nested

                                         

Regent House - home to nesting Swifts

DID  negligence by naturalists contribute to the  demise of a Swift colony in Surrey?

It has emerged that wildlife organisations failed to raise the  alert  on Swift welfare ahead of  the demolition of buildings which have long provided a home for some 20 pairs of  nesting Swifts 

Surrey Wildlife Trust and Natural England were both consulted about the proposal to redevelop the site, Regent House  - which is on the approach road  Dorking Railway Station - but neither raised any concerns.

As part of an ecological appraisal, two site surveys were carried out by consultants acting for the developers.

But these were carried out on February 17 and September 28 when the birds would have been in Africa.

The consultants acknowledged that the buildings earmarked for demolition may have been summer home to Swifts, but maintained that mitigation could be provided by installing on the proposed  replacement building a single nest box between three and four metres from the ground.

It is understood that Surrey Police wildlife unit and Mole Valley District Council are now investigating to establish what went wrong and whether there has been any breach of legislation.                             

Artist's impresson of how the  site might be redeveloped to provide 126  flats -  but there is no planning condition requiring the installation of Swift bricks

The Wryneck says: This is casebook example of how the welfare of wildlife - in this instance Swifts - is compromised regularly by deficiencies in the planning system. The consultants  carried out the surveys in  the wrong seasons and gave duff advice on Swifts' nesting requirements. Natural England and Surrey Wildlife Trust seem both to have been asleep at the wheel. And, particularly at such a prominent location, why did no local birder have the foresight to raise any  concerns with the district council whose planning case officer, unforgivably, approved the demolition with no safeguarding mitigation. After this sorry event, there has been plenty of tut-tutting in both local and national media. Doubtless there will be  inquiries into what went wrong. One of the main lessons is that planning officers, not just at Mole Valley council but everywhere, need to be properly trained on ecology and wildlife-safeguarding, to reduce their chances of making damaging decisions.