Cheltenham traders call for a seagull cull to stop squawking torment
DESPERATE residents and traders have called a public meeting in a bid to solve Cheltenham's increasing seagull problem.
The noisy birds have been making feathers fly in the town and community leaders are calling for a solution.
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Torment: Seagulls
Guy Hunter, who runs Butler's Hotel in Western Road, is calling on traders and business owners to lead the way and do their bit to stop gulls nesting in the town.
He said: "I don't think Cheltenham Borough Council can do much more at the moment so we need to appeal to businesses like hotels, shops, restaurants and landlords to protect Cheltenham.
"Residents are being disturbed because during July they squawk throughout the night. The residents of Kingsditch and Lansdown are having a nightmare. If the town is not protected then everything we invest in will be negated by the noise and nuisance of gulls."
Borough councillor Barbara Driver (C, Lansdown) has organised a public meeting on August 18 at the Municipal Offices. She said: "We'll have to work together and take some responsibility. I don't want the meeting to just be a public rant, I want people to come with ideas. We have to start thinking about prevention rather than cure."
She said pressure should be put on businesses to do what they can in putting up spikes and netting.
Mrs Driver said a relative was recently dive-bombed in the Suffolks area while walking her dog.
"She said it was horrifying and thought they may have attacked because of the dog," she said. "The gulls are doing away with the smaller birds and I've heard they are killing ducklings in Pittville."
Seagull expert Peter Rock, who was called in by Gloucester City Council to advise on urban gulls, said the birds' offspring are in the process of fledgling.
Mr Rock said the gulls were attracted to towns to make safe nesting platforms but added that the aggression they show was just a warning.
He said: "They only come within 10 feet and people mistake this for an attack but it's just a warning because you've stumbled on their territory."
Denise Powell, environmental protection manager at Cheltenham Borough Council, said it carries out egg oiling programmes to stop eggs hatching in hotspots. Last month, 241 eggs were oiled at 61 locations over four days.
She said: "We don't have any legal powers to require residents and businesses to carry out bird proofing of their buildings or remove nests."
Council staff can only oil eggs where they have permission from the building owner.
The meeting in the Municipal Offices to discuss the gull problem will take place at 6.30pm on August 18.
22 Comments
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by Bishop_Hooper, Somewhere in the county
Saturday, July 31 2010, 10:56AM
“Ghiabelinda, We have not encroached on the seagulls natural territory (well not unless Cheltenham is next to the sea on a cliff and no-one has noticed). They were attracted to the area because of the abundance of food in the area (litter, waste etc). I agree that needs tackling (council - pull your finger out!), but it has to be a two or three pronged approach. Clean up the food source (litter), cull the breeding pairs to reduce numbers and how about stop taking waste from other areas of the country......
Sentimentality over vermin is laughable. Yes its a living creature, but its existance is degrading the area. I'll tell you what, why not set the fox hunting fraternity on the seagull problem, would that make it more palatable for you? Seeing a load of horses and hounds chasing the birds down Montpellier?”
by Peter, Cheltenham
Saturday, July 31 2010, 7:05AM
“The problem of Seagulls and Rats is caused by the filthy people who do not dispose of waste properly; if there was no food for them to eat they would not be here. To kill the gulls just because they take advantage of the food we leave for them would be criminal. Why not cull the filthy vermin who leave the food for them;much better idea.”
by Miss Superstar, Far, far away
Friday, July 30 2010, 10:23PM
“Don't know about shooting them, but I was advised by the RSPB that it's illegal to disturb a seagull's nest - unless natural forces have destroyed it first.
And wasn't this the same journal that recently made a fuss about businesses putting up netting and accidentally catching pigeons? Damned if you do, damned if you don't. That's what I love about this town - you just can't win.”
by ghiabelinda, glos
Friday, July 30 2010, 7:01PM
“boo boo bang bang how can they live at the seaside where they belong, they are driven out of the seaside towns. Bishop hoope get a life man, all this publicity is what causes people to take the law in to their own hands, i say anyone who can wish ill on another living creature is vermin. what gives anybody the right to kill anything? who are the pest anyway, people are dirty, niosy and a darned sight more vicious than any gull. we are encroaching on their territory not the other way round. i got field mice in my garden. (yes and i have had them in the house) because my house is built on what was their territory. i got no probem with any iving creature, except man. the gulls wil be off soon, then i expect they will be forgotten til next year when all you whingers wil be out in force again. i worked in th town centre for years and they never caused me a problem, yes if i walk my dog too close to their young as peter rock said they will warn. wouldnt you if my dog approached your child, even though she is as soft as they come and would not hurt anybody. so stop whinging and be grateful you are alive and well and able to see them.”
by Arthur, Cheltenham
Friday, July 30 2010, 4:44PM
“VFM - where was I rude? How strange.”
by Bishop_Hooper, Somewhere in the county
Friday, July 30 2010, 4:29PM
“Actually VFM, you are wrong. Under certain conditions, shooting seagulls is not illegal. Every year the Government issues a general licence for people to kill herring gulls, to protect human health and safety. Oiling eggs does not work, because the gull can still breed. Rather than the usual council hot air and rhetoric, lets see some decisive action. Get the licence applied for, get in some professional bird control operatives and cull them. That is the ONLY way to ensure numbers go down.
Animal cruelity? I think not. Seagulls are a vermin. do you feel the same way when you kill ants in your kitchen? I doubt it very much.
A full on cull is the only way forward to start a massive reduction in numbers.”
by Mimi, Cheltenham
Friday, July 30 2010, 4:03PM
“I am surprised Cheltenham seagulls have not set up a meeting to prevent certain councillors from squawking,”
by The Man Who Says The Unsayable, Cheltenham
Friday, July 30 2010, 2:49PM
“Why do seagulls have wings?
So they can get to the tip before the pikeys.”
by Value for Money, Cheltenham
Friday, July 30 2010, 2:37PM
“Gulls will fly tens of kilometres for food and bring it back to safe nesting sites. Keeping the town clean is only part of the solution.
Please note it is ILLEGAL to kill Gulls so the culling aruments will never work unless you fist change the law on Animal protection - it will therefore be much easier to get some roof
protection.
PS - Arthur - don't be so rude to Cllr Driver - she would not be rude to you - either to your face OR from behind an e-mail address as you have chosen to do.
I hope the meeting will get some tangible results for all concerned.”
by azan, Gloucester
Friday, July 30 2010, 1:45PM
“Actually i change my mind. The people who say remove the food source are right. It makes sense that that is the most important thing to stop.”