Issue - meetings

Purpose: To provide members with information relating to Swifts and swift bricks and their use in West Berkshire following the Motion to Council Proposed by Councillor David Marsh and Seconded by Councillor Carolyne Culver.

Council considered a report (Agenda Item 10) concerning a Motion presented to Council on 27 November 2025, about installing Swift Bricks in Council owned properties and amending Planning Policy and planning conditions to promote the use of Swift Boxes. This Motion was referred to the Resources and Place Scrutiny Committee for Officers input and for the Committee’s consideration, before it came back to Council.

MOTION: Proposed by Councillor Denise Gaines and seconded by Councillor Jeff Brooks:

“That the Council does not support the Motion submitted in the name of Councillor David Marsh to Council on 27 November 2025, for the reasons set out in the report.”

Councillor Gaines introduced the report and highlighted that swifts were on the red list of endangered birds according to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). She expressed her full support for implementing Swift Bricks in both new and renovated Council owned buildings in the future, where appropriate. The new Local Plan could also look into the issue. However, due to the cost of the bricks, it would result in a predicted total cost of £550k. Although finances should not be the only consideration on ecological issues, the proposal would create a significant and uncosted financial pressure for a Council that had to borrow several million pounds in order to simply continue its day-to-day operations.

In addition, the current Local Plan, although not mandating Swift Bricks, had several policies which required wildlife mitigation and had been used to require Swift Bricks in developments. Furthermore, it was not considered appropriate to issue a blanket requirement of 50 per cent of all developments to have Swift Bricks. For all these reasons, although the principle was supported, Councillor Gaines did not support the original Motion as worded and so proposed that the recommendation to not proceed be approved.

Members agreed with the point that, when renovations on Council buildings were undertaken, the installation of these bricks would be easier and more cost effective and so should be considered in these circumstances.

The need for immediate action was also mentioned, as waiting till the next Local Plan adoption would take several years. Questions were also raised about the high costs for these bricks that were suggested in the report. Some Members also indicated that part of the point of the Motion was to look to get developers to install swift bricks on new developments themselves, without the Council needing to provide any financial assistance. In addition, it was emphasised that the responsibility to protect the swifts was not down to the Council alone and that it required a whole community response.

On the next Local Plan, a point was made that the Resources and Place Scrutiny Committee would not have the resources to examine it in great detail. Therefore, the Administration was encouraged to clarify what group would be used or set up to help work on the Emerging Local Plan and discuss the inclusion of policies such as Swift Bricks.

Members were also reminded  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9