Swift action taken to save declining species in Ballyclare

Swift boxes are set to be installed at Ballyclare Town Hall as part of a new conservation initiative to protect the swift — officially recognised as the ‘Bird of the Borough’.

Councillors approved the recommendation at a meeting of Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council held at Mossley Mill, Newtownabbey, on Monday evening, July 28.

The move follows a request from the RSPB and a local swift conservation group for the council to install nesting boxes and an electrical caller system (a device that plays swift calls to attract birds) on the exterior of the listed Ballyclare Town Hall building. Ballyclare town centre is a known nesting site for swifts.

It is anticipated that the installation will support ongoing swift conservation efforts in the borough. Neither the council’s planning section nor the Department for Communities’ Historic Environment Division (HED) raised objections to the proposal.

A council report noted that the swift was officially designated as the ‘Bird of the Borough’ in May 2015, following a request from the Antrim RSPB Group.

The council has since worked in partnership with community groups, the RSPB, and statutory agencies to introduce a range of initiatives aimed at “halting and reversing this trend,” the report stated, referring to the sharp decline in swift populations.

Swift nest bricks have already been incorporated into new-build and renovated buildings across the borough, including the Antrim Library, Mossley Mill, Crumlin Recreation Centre, and Antrim Castle Gardens.

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

In April, the council’s Planning Committee approved the use of advisory notes on swifts and building construction, which will now accompany relevant planning permissions.

Following this approval, the council’s ‘Swift Champion’, Airport Sinn Féin Councillor Annemarie Logue, 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,” she said.

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”.