A parish council has called for swift boxes or bricks to be made a priority in future building developments to help preserve the bird species.
Burnham Overy Parish Council has voted to back the measure when it comments on future planning applications to King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council.
Luke Douglas-Home, parish councilor, said swifts were a “signature species of the staithe”.
Mr Duglas-Holme said: “Most summer nights have featured wheeling, playing and screeching packs of swifts for as long as I can remember. We must care for them.”
Helmut Maure, a former senior expert of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for the Environment, visited a parish council meeting earlier this month to talk about efforts to protect swifts.
He said: “Whatever we can do, however big or small our contribution may be, even if it is only making room for swifts in our built environment, protecting biodiversity means protecting ourselves and the livelihoods of future generations.”
Mandatory swift boxes have also been backed by nature presenter Chris Packham.
The migratory birds are classified as endangered in the UK.
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