Antrim and Newtownabbey Council pioneers Swift conservation with new planning guidelines

Cllr Mark Cooper and Kate McAllister, from RSPB Antrim Local Group, launch the swift caller system at Mossley Mill, Newtownabbey.

Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council’s Planning Committee has approved advice notes relating to swifts and building construction.

A document has been drafted in association with the Northern Ireland Swift Association, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (Northern Ireland) and Northern Ireland Environment Agency.

A report to the committee, which met at Mossley Mill, Newtownabbey, on Wednesday evening, indicated that officers intend to provide this information with any planning permissions granted.

Noting a decline in swift numbers, committee member Airport Sinn Fein Councillor Annemarie Logue, the council’s ‘Swift Champion’, described the move as “a very positive step”.

“We are the first council to actually bring this forward. I think it is a very positive step and look forward to this being launched.”

Antrim SDLP Councillor Roisin Lynch said:

“I very much welcome this positive planning note.”

The swift, which arrives in Northern Ireland in late April, has been named as the official ‘Bird of the Borough’. It was given this status by Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council in May 2015 following a request by Antrim RSPB Local Group.

The Belfast group of the RSPB says that the swift population is “plummeting fast” with numbers declining by two-thirds since 1995.

The group has attributed this decrease to “vanishing nesting spaces”.

“As houses and buildings are renovated and old ones demolished, the crevices and crannies that swifts used to build their nests are filled in, covered up, or replaced entirely,” the group says.

”Swift bricks fit flush with the rest of the structure and do not compromise its appearance,” the group states.

Swift nest bricks have been incorporated into new build / renovated buildings including Antrim Library, Mossley Mill, Crumlin Recreation Centre, and at Antrim Castle Gardens.

In addition, two swift bird callers have been installed alongside swift nest boxes at the council’s environmental services depot in Antrim and at Mossley Mill.