Nightingales Vs. Developers

With an ever increasing population in Britain (up by 3 million from 59m just 10 years ago), it seems inevitable* that there will be times when local decisions need to be made: New houses or green spaces?

[*: Actually it's not inevitable but our government has no imagination]

How do you make that decision? Especially where rare, endangered, or declining species are in the mix.

There is a broad spectrum of choice here from 'preserving all things natural whatever the cost' through to 'everything is up for grabs'.

The current UK government has been busy relaxing planning laws lately, so whether they intend it that way or not, they're pushing towards the latter end of the spectrum. All that seems to stand in the way of large swathes of the country disappearing under the bulldozers, is land that is specifically earmarked for protection (e.g. Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI's) and nature reserves).

Which brings me to the subject of nightingales. These plain little birds with a beautiful song are at the centre of political storm here in the south-east of England......

There is patch of land in Kent called Lodge Hill. It's a former Ministry of Defence training ground consisting of some 325 hectares (a hectare is 10,000 square metres) of ancient woodland and scrub. The local council (Medway) want to build 5000 new homes. Unfortunately, the country's largest population of nightingales already call it home.

Their numbers have gone into serious decline in Britain, losing 90% of their numbers in the last 40 years. It's a worrying trend and scientists believe nightingales may become extinct within another 30 years.

So the organisation charged with protecting England's natural environment, Natural England, felt compelled to make the land an SSSI.

The conservative Medway council didn't like that and will be appealing against the decision, describing Natural England as a 'quango', a particularly dirty word for Tories, and probably calculated to stir up right-wing feelings at a national level. Sure enough, PM David Cameron has told his environment minister to fix the problem.

Already, bioversity offsetting has been mentioned as a possible solution. Just about the most ridiculous idea I've heard from this useless government. Just another tool for making way for the developers.

It's ironic really, Conservative back-benchers have been whining about wind turbines spoiling the British countryside, and yet, what good is the countryside without wildlife?

Many of our most cherished species are in rapid decline. We need to stop the rot, and we need to do that right now.


More background here and here.