I live in a Housing Association property.The landlord intends to replace the roof of my property ( & that of most of their tenants) beginning this month. I have 2 families of starling nesting & I know many of the properties have swifts & house martins nesting.
I need them to stop the work,not just on my house but others too.The roof is in good repair & the work is scheduled maintenance,not urgent repair. If it proceeds now,many nests will be destroyed & chicks lost.
Could anyone help with a formula to stop this work? I have found the organisation to be very intractable & arrogant in the past. They are also woefully ignorant of their responsibilities in law.
I would also appreciate advice on how to appeal to them on the issue of providing suitable nesting sites within the rebuilt roof so the birds can return next year (losing them would be unthinkable for me,devastating to the birds).
Thankyou very much for reading my first post on this site
http://www.rspb.org.uk/thingstodo/surveys/swifts/underthreat.aspx
Hi,There is plenty of advice on RSPB site.Have a scout around.Best wishes - edgebander.
Hi Clorinda4
As Edgebander has pointed out it is illegal to disturb or destoy the nests. Whichever builder he proposes to do the work should also be raising these issues with your landlord as the fines can be very large for people who ignore the law in this respect.
By the way
Welcome to the Forum
Andrew
Hi Clorinda4,
Welcome to the Community, sorry it's under such worrying circumstances:-(
As you've been told, it is illegal to disturb nests that are in use - I don't know if the RSPB have a legal dept, I'm pretty sure they do, maybe you could alert them to the problem and perhaps they'll add their weight to your protest with a stiff letter reminding your landlords that what they propose is illegal. I'm not saying the RSPB will step in but it's worth a try. Also perhaps you could alert your local paper, radio station, telly or or all of them to kick up about such wanton destruction and finally, do you think your fellow tenants would would act as a body with petitions and protests? Some might. I hope you get it sorted out and I wish you luck:-)
Thankyou so much to you all for your response. I will be having a very stiff word on Monday & all your suggestions have been helpful.
The contractor is one of the biggest in the country,I feel sure they would prefer not to attract bad publicity,particularly on an issue which they must encounter often.
I will certainly get the local press involved if they attempt to interfere with my roof.I don't know many other tenants but there are bound to be some who share my concerns.
I am not sure if the works have started yet,tenants are not often given accurate information & are rarely kept in the loop.
I havea good contact with the local paper so I can be fairly sure of getting a good hearing.I will certainly get them involved if it looks like the work is still on schedule.
Thanks again to all of you for posting & giving me your support.I will return when there is more news.
clorinda4 said:Thanks again to all of you for posting & giving me your support.I will return when there is more news.
Oh yes, please do! I find myself worrying about your birds and indeed, you. I'd be beside myself:-)
It has all been said clorinda and well done you for caring so much.I hope your neighbours feel the same if they also have nesting birds.
Good luck :0)
An optimist sees the beauty of the complete rose.A pessimist sees only the thorn .