OWL TOWER WILL BE INSTALLED ON VILLAGE SITE EARMARKED FOR WASTE-TO-ENERGY PROJECT

                                                           

Barn owl on the hunt for something to eat

                                                   

A TOWER designed especially for barn owls is to be installed near Immingham Railfreight Terminal in Stallingborough.

It is hoped a pair of these 'ghosts of the night' will nest in the tower which will be on the same site as that earmarked for construction of a waste-to-energy plant, off Scandinavian Way.

If so, it will be an excellent example of how wildlife can co-exist with industry.

North East Lincolnshire Council planners have insisted on the tower as a planning condition of the development proposal submitted by Newton Energi Limited.

Barn owls have declined in many parts of the UK, so Lincolnshire and the South Bank - where they are holding their own - represents an important territory.

The Grimsby News says: Hats off to NELC planner Richard Limmer for imposing this condition. Wildlife is often a casualty of ill-considered planning decisions, so it's great to see an initiative that should be to the benefit of a beautiful and much-admired bird.

* Photo: Peter Burian via Wikimedia Commons