Brighton and Hove council are leading the way in putting actions for biodiversity net gain into practice by agreeing new rules that bird boxes and Bee Bricks must be included in new developments. 

New regulations from the start of April 2020 mean that any building of more than 5 metres high will be expected to include Swift Bricks/ Swift Blocks, with the aim of providing much needed nesting space for these Summer visitors. 

Planning guidance was already updated in 2019 to say that a Bee Brick should be incorporated into the external walls of all new developments, as part of Policy CP10 of the Brighton & Hove City Plan Part One and Supplementary Planning Document SPD11 Nature Conservation and Development. 

Photo credit. Brighton and Hove news. Councillor Robert Nemeth and Karolina Roszkowska from the RSPB with swift boxes

The council has worked closely with the RSPB on the development of these new guidelines, with Councillor Robert Nemeth championing both Bee Bricks and Swift boxes.

In a statement for Brighton and Hove news, Councillor Nemeth said:

“People fill in holes. It’s really sad that the birds come back and have nothing.

A swift box is harder to block up as people can't see the box and won’t fill it up.

As long as people are putting up swift boxes and bricks then it’s a win for wildlife in the city.”