A SIX metre high tower for swifts to nest in has been put up by a council using more than £18,000 of UK Government funding.
The steel pole is fitted with bird boxes for up to 12 pairs of swifts and speakers to play the “call of the swift” at key times just after dawn and dusk to attract the birds to use the nesting spaces in the grounds of Monmouthshire County Council’s headquarters in Usk.
The ‘Swift Tower’ is also intended to be a “prominent piece of art” to highlight the “iconic, declining urban bird, and to inspire individuals to take action to help swifts and other urban nature” and highlight how the council is is supporting nature recovery across the county.
The cost of the tower as well as design costs and planning permission was covered by funding from the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund which awarded funding for the Gwent Green Grid project in 2024/25.
Monmouthshire County Council said the cost for the tower was £18,500 thought that figure doesn’t include VAT.
Councillor Catrin Maby, the council’s Labour cabinet member for the environment, said: “This swift tower is an excellent way to ensure that we continue to see breeding pairs at County Hall for many years to come.
“Hopefully it can prove to be a small step towards the recovery of swift populations in the near future.”
Monmouthshire County Council hopes to support further swift project work through Welsh Government Local Places for Nature funding during 2025 to 2027.
The tower is in the ‘Incredible Edible’ community garden area, which is open to the public, within the grounds of Monmouthshire County Council’s headquarters at The Rhadyr also known as County Hall.
The site has been selected as the best option for Usk, as it will be noticeable to swifts passing as they feed along the river Usk.
Swifts had been using J Block at County Hall, before an adjoining walkway was built in 2018.
They nest almost exclusively in buildings, making use of holes to raise their young, but are losing nesting sites with old buildings being renovated to improve insulation or demolished.
Swifts pair for life, returning to the same nest site each year but have recently been put on the Red List of Birds of Conservation Concern as populations across the UK have declined by 58 per cent since 1995, and 75 per cent in Wales.
Monmouthshire County Council’s planning department, which had to approve the structure, had caused confusion over the source of funding as it stated it was from the Welsh Government.
