TEESDALE’S MP is calling for a change in the law that will help stop the destruction of roosting sites for birds.
Helen Goodman’s plea came as it emerged developers have cut down a laurel hedge, which was used by thousands of starlings as a roosting site in Whorlton.
During a Westminster debate last week, Ms Goodman told MPs there was a “need for cross party consensus” on the issue of developers netting hedgerows to prevent birds from nesting.
The debate was triggered by an online petition started by Lincolnshire-based Margaret Moran, which gained more than 350,000 signatures.
Ms Goodman highlighted the plight of Whorlton’s murmuration of starlings.
Earlier this year the birds created spectacular patterns in the sky, before swooping down together to spend the night in the hedge.
However, three properties are being built nearby and the hedge has now been cut down to open up the view.
It means the starlings, which are a protected species, will have to find another suitable roosting site. Ms Goodman called for legislation to be changed because currently birds, their eggs and the nest are protected under law, but roosts are not.
Ms Goodman said: “If we are to deal with nets on nesting sites, does he [the minister] agree that we should also do something about roosting sites, which are not mentioned in the current legislation? In Whorlton, in my constituency, thousands of starlings have been doing murmurations for the last two years, but some developers, where they are building new houses, want to knock down the hedges that have become the roosting sites of those starlings. We should also cover the issue of roosting sites if we are taking the time to change legislation.”
She added: “If the legal framework is inadequate, the local planning autshority cannot take such matters into account, because it does not have the vires – the powers – to do it. That is why we are looking for legal change in the area.”
