IN 2023, the State of Nature report rang the alarm bell for nature across the UK. 

A year later, the 2024 Labour manifesto promised ‘1.5 million new homes over the next parliament’.  

House building on this scale will transform swathes of the UK landscape, yet sympathetic planning can provide an opportunity for wildlife where there might otherwise be concrete, barren landscapes.

Summerfield Homes’ Killams Park housing development in south Taunton incorporates a proactive approach to biodiversity enhancement. 

Diverse planting schemes and integral nest bricks have led to a boom in house sparrow numbers at Killams Park. 

The same nest bricks also offer a lifeline to swifts. Like sparrows, swifts are a red-listed species: the UK swift population has fallen by 50 per cent over the last 25 years largely due to a loss of nest sites in older buildings. 

Encouragingly, swifts have started to colonise nest bricks at Killams Park.

Summerfield Homes' divisional development director Jamie Johnson speaks glowingly of the company’s ecological successes: "We are extremely proud of Killams Park; we have worked extensively with our ecologist to enhance the biodiversity of the area... hwe adopt this approach to improve the biodiversity of all our sites."

Unfortunately, not all housebuilders follow suit. 

In particular, new housing estates across Taunton Deane tend to lack integral nesting bricks, a lifeline for cavity-nesting birds like the swift. 

Hannah Bourne-Taylor, a former Taunton resident, has spearheaded The Feather Speech, a national campaign to make integral nest bricks a legal requirement in all new developments. 

At present, the inclusion of integral nest bricks is down to the relevant local authority and, as Bourne-Taylor points out: "Some housebuilders have made voluntary swift brick commitments but they're temporary and unchecked. Only 9 out of over 400 Local Planning Authorities have swift brick conditions, illustrating a need for government action for this urgent, essential measure."

To support Hannah’s campaign, ask your local MP to promote the need for mandatory nest bricks; for further information visit Hannah’s website at hannahbournetaylor.com

Simon Bament, Taunton Deane Swifts