Housebuilders in one part of Hampshire should be doing more to help birds, with special bricks “cheap as chips” to use.

Members of Fareham Borough Council’s planning committee said all new homes should have swift bricks, but were told policy changes could take five years.

Each year, swifts fly from Africa to the UK to breed - but numbers are plummeting, with the loss of 50 per cent of their nesting sites in 25 years.

Councillors at Fareham have been trying to increase the number of nesting bird sites by asking builders to put in 30 per cent more swift bricks at the planning stage of an application.

The bricks are unobtrusive, hollow brick and Swift Conservation said two to four bricks are ideal per house.

At a March 14 planning meeting, Councillor Chrissie Bainbridge (Lib Dem, Porchester East) said more should be used because builders she had spoken to said swift bricks are “as cheap as chips”. 

The RSPB said: “More than half of our swifts have vanished and the loss of nest sites in the roofs of buildings appears to be at least partly responsible.

“If you’re starting on house renovation work, creating an extension or building a new house then a swift brick, built into the fabric of a wall, is a great, permanent and low-maintenance alternative to a nestbox.”

A building project sited in Warsash that saw the first 126 new houses (of 730) approved to be built by Bargate Homes and Vivid Housing only required 20 per cent to have a provision for creating habitats for birds, bats and bees, as set out in revised ecological impact assessment.

Planners then upped the requirement to 50 per cent of the new houses, a total of 63 bird and 63 bat features.

Councillor Paul Nother (Lib Dem, Porchester East) asked if there should be a push for 75 or 100 per cent of new homes to have swift bricks.

But he was told by a planning officer that there is no policy requirement for more than 20 per cent.

At a separate planning meeting (March 14), Councillor Chrissie Bainbridge (Lib Dem, Porchester Eas) brought up swift boxes again.

She said: “Is there anything to stop us asking, ‘Mr Developer, would you put a swift brick in every house?’ Because actually they’re as cheap as chips and builders I’ve spoken to say they don’t think about it until someone asks.”