By Guy Shorrock, Volunteer with RSPB Investigations
A Herring Gull - a ‘red-listed’ species of high conservation concern (Guy Shorrock)
The UK is one of the most nature depleted countries with huge pressures on existing wildlife populations. Further developments such an Avian Influenza are having devastating impacts for several species including many seabirds. In late 2022, a furore erupted after the RSPB and other conservation organisations expressed concern about the ‘attack on nature’ and that the government could roll back environmental protection rules. It also called on people across the UK to help sound the alarm to protect the wildlife they love. Events earlier in 2022 at an established gull breeding colony on buildings in Melksham owned by Wiltshire Council (WC) appear to be sad illustration of these wider environmental concerns.
As part of this sorry tale, we are indebted to local professional ornithologist Nick Adams, for standing up for nature and painstakingly pulling together the details through a series of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to WC, Natural England (NE) and Wiltshire Constabulary.
The former sports centre in Melksham had a well-established colony of Herring and Lesser Black-Backed Gulls (courtesy Melksham News)
The former Christie Miller Sports Centre in Melksham is a large site of 11 buildings owned by WC. There had been a well-established breeding colony of Lesser Black-Backed and Herring Gulls on the site and other nearby buildings for over 10 years. The Wiltshire Ornithological Society had commissioned Peter Rock, the UK’s leading authority on urban nesting gulls, to carry out two breeding large gull surveys in Wiltshire, one in 2009 and again in 2018. This was the second largest of nine colonies in Wiltshire, with 380 pairs recorded in 2018, and about 30 pairs of each species on the WC site. The Herring Gull is a ‘red-listed’ species of high conservation concern due to severe breeding population declines during the last 25 years and now listed as ‘Endangered’ as a breeding species in Great Britain under IUCN criteria. The Lesser Black-Backed Gull is ‘amber-listed’ by virtue of the fact that the breeding population is concentrated at a relatively small number of important sites and Great Britain has internationally important breeding numbers of this species.
A delayed start
Demolition of the site was intended to begin in January 2022, which would have given breeding birds the opportunity to find other nesting sites. A WC Ecology Report from September 2021 (available on the WC planning portal) gave clear advice, including: ‘Please be advised that works should not take place that will harm nesting birds from March to August inclusive’. Unfortunately, due to a series of delays the work by the contracted demolition company did not actually start until April 2022. This was now well into the breeding season with birds preparing to lay - and their presence should have been extremely obvious. Considering this colony was so well-established, and their own ecology report, it is difficult to understand how WC allowed the work to start in April. It is understood there were no planned development works following the demolition, which suggests works could have been delayed until August 2022, after the breeding season.
Adult Herring & Lesser Black-Backed Gulls and chicks on the roof of the partially demolished site (courtesy Melksham News)
During April concerns about the gull colony were made to WC and work was halted after some demolition had taken place. It is likely some nest and eggs would have been destroyed by this point. A falconer was employed by WC to try to deter the gulls from breeding but was not successful. On 5 May 2022, WC applied to NE for a licence under public health and safety to remove Herring Gull nests, eggs and chicks on the grounds the buildings were now partially demolished, and the site was therefore unsafe. It is clear from the correspondence between WC and the demolition company that there were significant concerns re the financial implications of any delays. Consequently, we are concerned that these pressures may have caused undue influence on the decision to apply for a licence on the grounds of public health and safety rather than delay the work until August.
A licence to cull
A licence was granted to WC and the information returned to NE shows that between 30 May and 8 June 2022 some 12 Herring Gull nests were removed, and 48 eggs/chicks were destroyed. Unfortunately, due to a clerical error by NE, the licence was incorrectly granted for the purpose of ‘Conserving wild birds’ and not in relation to the original application for public health and safety. The first licence condition clearly states: ‘The licensee is responsible for ensuring that operations comply with all terms and conditions of the licence’. NE in their covering email also stressed the importance of reading, understanding and complying with the licence. It is self-evident that this did not happen. We believe the licence was technically invalid and the clearance of nests, eggs and chicks was unlawful and contrary to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
In view of the site history, it was strange that the licence was only requested for Herring Gulls since Lesser Black-Backed Gulls were on site and, at the request of Wiltshire Constabulary, Nick Adams had confirmed both species were breeding at the start of May. A photograph taken by the Melksham News on the 7 June 2022, who covered this story with a good article, clearly suggests Lesser Black-Backed Gull chicks were present, and we believe it is highly probable at least two chicks were unlawfully killed. Also disturbing was a photograph of gull chick sat in the rubble eight days after the clearance of eggs/chicks was reported as complete.
A gull chick amongst the rubble some eight days after licensed work was declared complete (courtesy Melksham News)
After the dust has settled
In overview, it appears there has been a catastrophic failure by WC in managing this project and the RSPB has made a formal complaint regarding this incident. Whilst there has been a clerical error by NE, they are clearly not the villains of the piece. We have since had positive discussions about how better information from local ornithological groups and other sources can be made available to them to assist with future licensing decisions.
A time where nature is under increasing threat, it is clear everyone has a part to pay from individual lifestyle choices to government and international policy. Within this spectrum, local authorities, landowners and developers have an important role and must be highly mindful of the legal protection afforded to wildlife and protected sites. This situation at Melksham appears to have been entirely preventable, and we await comments from WC with interest.
July 2023 update
When RSPB wrote to Wiltshire Council we asked four key questions:
Wiltshire Council confirmed prior knowledge of breeding birds at the site and the legal protection afforded to them. However, we believe Wiltshire Council have failed to properly address the points we raised or provide a satisfactory explanation as to why the demolition work was allowed to commence in the breeding season. Having considered their response, and a large amount of Freedom of Information correspondence, our concerns about the handling of this project have actually increased. In the circumstances we feel we have no choice but to escalate our formal complaint to the next stage with Wiltshire Council.