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Senedd Members have debated a 10,000-name petition calling for “swift bricks” to be made mandatory in all new buildings to reverse the bird’s alarming decline.

Carolyn Thomas, who chairs the petitions committee, warned swifts are now Wales’ fastest declining bird as she led a debate in the Senedd on October 1.

She told the Senedd: “The decline is now at more than 76% since 1995, even worse than since the petition was submitted, and there has been a 56% decline in just the last ten years.”

Ms Thomas explained one of the main causes of the alarming decline of swifts, which are red-listed as birds of conservation concern, is the loss of nesting sites.

She said: “Campaigners argue only a mandatory approach to installing swift bricks will provide enough new nest spaces to allow swifts to recover to anything like former levels.

‘Absolute tragedy’

The north Walian explained hollow swift bricks can slot into the brickwork of new or old homes, providing a space where swifts can nest.

“They don’t need maintenance or replacement and are made by brick manufacturers large and small,” said the former councillor. “They typically cost only about £35.”

Her Labour colleague Jenny Rathbone – the Senedd’s swift champion – strongly supported the 10,934-signature petition submitted by Julia Barrell.

She called for a requirement for buildings over a certain height to install swift bricks.

Ms Rathbone said: “We can’t go on like this, otherwise we will never have any swifts, and our grandchildren will never be able to hear them. It’s an absolute tragedy, and we need to do more now to preserve and help this noble bird to multiply.”

‘Very messy’

But Joel James, a Tory member of the petitions committee, warned of unintended consequences of swift bricks – though he agreed with the spirit of the petition.

“They’re very messy,” he said. “I’ve stayed in houses with swift nests under the eaves, and the wall and the floor directly under them have been absolutely covered in their mess.”

Ms Rathbone suggested Mr James was confusing swifts with swallows or house martins.

Mr James also cautioned swift bricks could impact homeowners’ ability to do renovations. “If you have nesting birds in your home, you can’t just turf them out,” he said.

He called for a national plan to ensure an appropriate number of swift bricks in certain areas.

Delyth Jewell, Plaid Cymru’s shadow climate secretary, said: “The swift is not only a bird, it is a symbol of our summers. When we hear the song of the swift, we know that the summer has arrived. They’re part of our heritage.”

‘Narrow focus’

Rebecca Evans, Wales’ economy secretary who is responsible for planning, told the Senedd the petitioners’ intentions closely match the Welsh Government’s aims.

But she warned against mandating swift bricks for new buildings, saying planning policy is already in place to ensure new developments provide a net biodiversity benefit.

She warned: “Perhaps the most important point here is that a focus on the installation of swift bricks as the only contribution to securing a net benefit to biodiversity might mean that developers avoid doing wider and potentially more impactful work.”

Ms Evans suggested developers could argue a £25-£35 swift brick meets their obligations, cautioning that too narrow a focus could have unintended consequences.

She told Senedd Members: “The danger is that a single measure could detract from, rather than complement, net benefit efforts and… swift bricks might become the only outcome.

“Nature is complex, and what I don’t want is for us to paint ourselves into a corner where a single solution is mandated above all others.”

Report by the ICNN Senedd Reporter scheme