{"id":32475,"date":"2022-02-12T16:01:02","date_gmt":"2022-02-12T16:01:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsblogsnew.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=32475"},"modified":"2022-02-11T18:14:13","modified_gmt":"2022-02-11T18:14:13","slug":"bee-bricks-become-planning-requirement-for-new-buildings-in-brighton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=32475","title":{"rendered":"Bee bricks become planning requirement for new buildings in Brighton"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright  wp-image-32476\" src=\"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Bee-300x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"136\" height=\"137\" \/>A planning law introduced in the city of Brighton and Hove, England, calls for new buildings to include special bricks that provide nests for solitary bees.<\/h3>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><em>Dezeen<\/em> writes:<\/p>\n<p>Brighton &amp; Hove Council&#8217;s policy stipulates that all new buildings above five metres should include bee bricks, as well as bird nesting boxes suitable for swifts.<\/p>\n<p>These bee bricks are the same size as regular bricks, but integrate a series of narrow openings like those where solitary bees are known to nest.<\/p>\n<p>The aim is to increase opportunities for biodiversity. With solitary bees making up\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wildlifetrusts.org\/blog\/ryan-clark\/guide-solitary-bees-britain\">nearly 250 of the approximately 270 bee species in Britain<\/a>, they play an important role in the natural ecosystem.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Bee bricks are just one of quite a number of measures that really should be in place to address biodiversity concerns that have arisen through years of neglect of the natural environment,&#8221; said Robert Nemeth, the councillor behind the initiative&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bee bricks replicate known habitat<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Nemeth proposed the move in 2019 and the stipulation has been included in planning permissions granted by the council since 1 April 2020.<\/p>\n<p>While swift bricks already feature in many UK planning policies, the inclusion of bee bricks is a relatively new development. ..<\/p>\n<p>Faye Clifton of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenandblue.co.uk\/\">Green&amp;Blue<\/a>\u00a0[said]<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Solitary bees nest in crumbling mortar work and old brickwork,&#8221; &#8230;, &#8220;but modern buildings are so perfect that all the cavities are blocked.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re putting a habitat into each building in the same way that has occurred naturally for hundreds of years,&#8221; she told Dezeen.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If these weren&#8217;t put in, it would just be a closed wall&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Scientists flag potential health hazards<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Scientists are divided over the effectiveness of bee bricks in improving biodiversity&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p>Lars Chittka, a professor in sensory and behavioural ecology at Queen Mary University, said that bees would be able to mitigate potential issues themselves, &#8220;which should to some extent counterbalance the risks that come with such long-term nesting opportunities&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Benefits outweigh risks say supporters<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Nemeth, who works as both a property developer and a professional beekeeper, is confident that the benefits outweigh the potential risks.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s always easy to list the drawbacks with any solution but the key is to keep trying,&#8221; he said&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p>Green&amp;Blue launched its bee brick in 2014 and it was the winner of the Soil Association&#8217;s Innovation Award the same year&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p>A third of the world&#8217;s food production depends on bees and other pollinators, yet approximately one in 10 bee species in Europe is facing extinction.<\/p>\n<p>Solitary bees are particularly under threat, partly because most bee-friendly initiatives are focused on honey bees&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dezeen.com\/2022\/01\/24\/bee-bricks-planning-requirement-brighton\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read more&#8230;.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A planning law introduced in the city of Brighton and Hove, England, calls for new buildings to include special bricks that provide nests for solitary bees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sector-newsblog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32475"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32475\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32477,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32475\/revisions\/32477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}