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Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland

theguardian.com

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Re: Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland

#51

Post by GaryBluto »

nothinkjustai wrote: post #43
GaryBluto wrote: post #21

If there were tax incentives for this instead of it being mandatory I'd support it wholeheartedly, but the idea of people being forced to directly attract and accommodate animals to/on their property under threat of punishment is unnerving to me. It's a completely different thing to being made to leave an existing den or nest alone.

You’re getting downvoted, but I agree. It’s never the carrot but always the stick with these kind of government initiatives and then people wonder why they’re so hated. If they were smart they would make it a tax break, and the more you do to welcome animals on your property the bigger it is. Why just one swift brick? What about a bird house? How about a little shelter for cats? Animal lovers get rewarded and those w…

People won't ever learn. If anything, all this "Swift brick" malarky makes me mentally associate swifts and swift bricks in general, regardless of the situation, with eco-authoritarianism (even though it isn't the swifts' faults that obnoxious upper class luvvies want to force people to attract them), which I imagine is counter to the attitude they want.

Re: Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland

#52

Post by anigbrowl »

reaperducer wrote: post #47
sega_sai wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is not the brick price, but extra regulations, controls that they are followed etc, plus the fact that now instead of say 10000 identical bricks for one house you need 9999 ones + one different. I simply think the priority should be more house building as people struggle to find places to live, and this measure will not help (the effect will probably be small I don't know)

It's a house, not a wall. And it's not being built by a robot. Adding the brick is inconsequential. Go to any building site and ask a bricklayer if adding a single custom brick to the construction will stop them building the house and he'll laugh in your face.

You're missing GP's point. The objection is not to the inclusion of swift bricks in new houses but the belief that it is sufficient to stabilize/restore the population, because relatively few new houses are being constructed.

Re: Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland

#53

Post by slopinthebag »

reaperducer wrote: post #48
nothinkjustai wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re getting downvoted, but I agree. It’s never the carrot but always the stick with these kind of government initiatives and then people wonder why they’re so hated. If they were smart they would make it a tax break, and the more you do to welcome animals on your property the bigger it is. Why just one swift brick? What about a bird house? How about a little shelter for cats? Animal lovers get rewarded and those w…

So instead imposing a tiny cost on the people building the home, your solution is to make everyone in the nation pay for it. Sounds like HN: Make the public pay, while the private keeps the profit.

That is how taxation works, people pay for services and things that other people receive.

Re: Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland

#54

Post by anigbrowl »

nothinkjustai wrote: post #43
GaryBluto wrote: post #21

If there were tax incentives for this instead of it being mandatory I'd support it wholeheartedly, but the idea of people being forced to directly attract and accommodate animals to/on their property under threat of punishment is unnerving to me. It's a completely different thing to being made to leave an existing den or nest alone.

You’re getting downvoted, but I agree. It’s never the carrot but always the stick with these kind of government initiatives and then people wonder why they’re so hated. If they were smart they would make it a tax break, and the more you do to welcome animals on your property the bigger it is. Why just one swift brick? What about a bird house? How about a little shelter for cats? Animal lovers get rewarded and those w…

BS, there are endless tax incentives for different things and many of them are abused. Also making it incentive-based is often a way for people to say 'not my problem, someone else will take care of it' and have nothing change.

Re: Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland

#55

Post by [deleted] »

GaryBluto wrote: post #51
nothinkjustai wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re getting downvoted, but I agree. It’s never the carrot but always the stick with these kind of government initiatives and then people wonder why they’re so hated. If they were smart they would make it a tax break, and the more you do to welcome animals on your property the bigger it is. Why just one swift brick? What about a bird house? How about a little shelter for cats? Animal lovers get rewarded and those w…

People won't ever learn. If anything, all this "Swift brick" malarky makes me mentally associate swifts and swift bricks in general, regardless of the situation, with eco-authoritarianism (even though it isn't the swifts' faults that obnoxious upper class luvvies want to force people to attract them), which I imagine is counter to the attitude they want.

[deleted]

Re: Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland

#57

Post by card_zero »

arethuza wrote: post #11
quercusa wrote: post #4

It's weird to see starlings listed as endangered. We seem to have no shortage of the darn things in the US.

"Starlings declined by 57% between 1995 and 2023 and they now feature on the Red List of birds of high conservation concern." https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/starling

"Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris has most recently been assessed for The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2018. Sturnus vulgaris is listed as Least Concern."

https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22710886/137493608

Re: Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland

#58

Post by rich_sasha »

js2 wrote: post #42

> Hannah Bourne-Taylor, who has campaigned for swift bricks nationally for four years. The article apparently undersells her role. Clicking through to her site, she seems to have been almost singularly responsible for making this happen: > For my campaign – for swifts – I have walked through London naked, twice. First to launch the petition (how else would a nobody reach the almost impossible target?) and secondly to…

Someone called Taylor campaigning for Swifts. Pretty cool coincidence.

Re: Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland

#59

Post by pavel_lishin »

js2 wrote: post #42

> Hannah Bourne-Taylor, who has campaigned for swift bricks nationally for four years. The article apparently undersells her role. Clicking through to her site, she seems to have been almost singularly responsible for making this happen: > For my campaign – for swifts – I have walked through London naked, twice. First to launch the petition (how else would a nobody reach the almost impossible target?) and secondly to…

Her photo on the linked article definitely makes her seem quite determined to get this done. "Your house is getting a swift brick, your choice is whether you install it during construction, or I install it through your window."

Re: Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland

#60

Post by slopinthebag »

stronglikedan wrote: post #33
sega_sai wrote: post #31

In the ideal world that would be a good idea, but in the real world with severe housing shortages, not enough house building it is not in my opinion

it costs nothing and hinders nothing, yet provides a benefit, so I don't see how it couldn't be a good idea. it has no impact on housing in any way

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