Pier plea to keep starlings' perches

Adam Trimingham - The Argus Tuesday, 25 February, 2003

DON'T forget the starlings. That's the plea being made by the Government's conservation watchdog English Nature to planners.

Brighton and Hove City Council will tomorrow look at plans for restoring the derelict West Pier and putting up shoreline pavilions to help fund the project.

The pier has become home to one of the biggest starling roosts in Britain, with about 50,000 making their home there.

Roger Matthews, of English Nature, said: "We do not believe the importance of the visual spectacle of the starling roost to the people of and visitors to Brighton has been properly recognised.

"It has become and could become more so a recognised feature of the city."

Mr Matthews is proposing simple supports for the starling roost beneath the pier if the pier is redeveloped.

English Nature welcomes the commitment by developer St Modwen to provide finance for the cleaning and maintenance of the existing peregrine falcon nest box on Sussex Heights, near the pier and to provide another box on the flats.

This is necessary because the proposed redevelopment of the pier will effectively reduce the peregrines' nesting sites from two to one.

Mr Matthews said of the starlings: "The visual spectacle produced as the birds come in to roost over the sea and swirl around the pier is considered to be of very high value to and by the residents of and visitors to Brighton and Hove.

"The display can last up to an hour and involve more than 50,000 birds.

"With the backdrop of the pier, the sea and the setting sun, it is arguably one of the most visually impressive wildlife spectacles in Britain.

"By failing to insist the developers accommodate the roost beneath the pier, English Nature believes the council and developers are missing a unique opportunity.

"The experience of seeing this number of starlings coming in directly underneath an active pier, as smaller numbers do at Eastbourne and Aberystwyth, could be truly breathtaking and something the city should be proud of."

Mr Matthews said if the starlings left the pier they would go elsewhere and this could cause problems with smell, noise and mess.

He added: "The underneath of the pier is in many ways a perfect place for 50,000 starlings to roost. You get all the enjoyment but don't have to pay the price in terms of damage and pollution."

Starlings are in decline and the large roost on the West Pier is highly significant for the birds.

Councillors are not being recommended to approve a roost immediately but planning officer Hamish Waike said a study was needed on the impact of the restoration on the birds.