Victory for starlings as Brighton's largest petition achieves goal

Steve Geliot and Louise McCurdy, co-founders of the Save Our Starlings campaign, launched it to put pressure on the council to ban chemical fertilisers which kill insects, starlings' primary food source.

Writing on their petition, hosted by the website Change.org, Mr Geliot and Ms McCurdy thanked the supporters of their campaign.

They said: "More than 118,000 supporters of this historic petition have demonstrated beyond any doubt the strength of public support for nature in general, and our beloved starlings in particular.

"This petition also gained crucial support for the starlings in the press, adding further impetus to end the war on nature."

• READ MORE: One hundred new nest boxes for starlings 

The petition called on the council to ban the use of harmful chemicals on the city's downland estate and asked it to make a "concerted effort" to reduce noise and light pollution.

In it, Mr Geliot wrote: “Together, we, the people of Brighton and Hove, own a large section of the South Downs called the city downland estate."

Earlier this month, the council adopted the new plan for this estate.

Sussex Wildlife Trust and the Brighton Downs Alliance also aided the council when it opened the consultation for the Downland Estate plan.

Starling murmurations are a sign of winter for many in Brighton and Hove (Image: Rose Jones)

According to Mr Geliot, the new plan speaks consistently about transitioning to regenerative agriculture and away from the toxic 20th century farming systems.

He added: "The plan commits to supporting biodiversity, restoring chalk grassland habitats and protecting chalk aquifers."

The council also committed to restoring natural light in the estate by reducing light pollution.

In the plan, it said: “We will mirror the South Downs National Park's policies on dark skies, determining how these could be incorporated in our own planning policies for developments close to the national park and the estate’s urban fringe. 

Steve Geliot and Lou McCurdy at Brighton Palace Pier (Image: Steve Geliot)

Mr Geliot said: "Of course there is a huge amount of work still to do in terms of translating the vision into action, but for now, we can all celebrate together that this very positive progress is being made thanks to our collective love for the starlings.

"We can raise a glass to restoring the Brighton murmuration in 2023 and beyond."