SLR secures planning permission for ScottishPower Renewables’ artificial nesting structure

SLR has successfully secured planning permission on behalf of ScottishPower Renewables for the installation of an artificial nesting structure (ANS) for kittiwakes at the Port of Lowestoft, UK. Adam Gailitis, Project Planner at SLR, acted as the lead planning consultant, liaising with East Suffolk Council, the governing authority.

Affectionately referred to as ‘the bird hotel’, the ANS will provide a valuable nesting habitat for the local kittiwake population. Kittiwakes are on the UK conservation ‘red list’ and numbers have declined by 40% globally since the 1970s.

The application was made to support offshore wind development, namely the East Anglia ONE North Offshore Windfarm, which was awarded consent in March 2022 to provide compensation nesting habitat for kittiwakes associated with the Flamborough and Filey Coast Special Protection Area.

The structure is made of reinforced concrete, with a modular wall design that mimics a cliff face – akin of a kittiwake natural habitat – worthy of boutique accommodation for seabirds. The ANS has been designed in a manner that replicates ideal conditions for nesting and will allow kittiwakes to co-exist within the local town, without the need for meaningful interaction with human activity given its location on the outer harbour wall, well away from any properties.

The approved structure will be sited next to three existing ANS at the port, which opened for kittiwake inhabitation in February 2023 (pictured above). The region’s newest hotel is one of the first of its kind in the UK and was installed to provide kittiwake nesting habitat compensation for ScottishPower Renewable’s East Anglia projects and RWE’s Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone. The Lowestoft port was originally selected to host the hotels due to its secure location and proximity to existing kittiwake colonies, which have colonised areas around the port for many years.

The new ScottishPower Renewables structure is expected to be installed later this year.

SLR were pleased to lead on this planning application which will provide relief for a species that are categorised as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list.