More Council Swift boxes installed 2026
A few years back, Winchester City Council agreed to install a Swift box on all the Council properties that they were reroofing in mitigation for the many bird nesting sites being lost during the insulation/roof upgrades. The Winchester City Council area covers not just the City itself but approximately 250 square miles of central Hampshire, going as far as Sutton Scotney in the north, West Meon in the east, and Hambledon in the south.
The Council has recently employed a contractor, JJ Dunne, to catch up on the installations due over the last couple of years. A further 126 Swift boxes, two Starling boxes and seven bat boxes have been installed. Thanks are due to JJ Dunne and WCC ecologists, Zoe Goldsmith and Nick Cutler. You can read about previous installations here.
More recently, Southampton City Council have also been doing the same in Southampton and we are very grateful to their ecologist, Sam Munslow, who has been driving the policy. Their contractor, Trident Maintenance Services, have recently completed the installation of 200 Swift boxes and our thanks go to them too.
Tim Norriss
Hampshire Swifts
