Agenda item

To discuss the possible options for Seagull Management in 2018/19.

BRIEFING NOTE TO FOLLOW

56.1    The Committee considered a report of the Cabinet Member for Environment concerning seagull management for 2018/19.

56.2    The Chair welcomed Councillor Cook and the Head of Communities to the meeting.

56.3    The Head of Communities provided an overview of the report explained the preferred option.

56.4    Councillor Wilson noted that the level of complaints remained at a steady level and questioned whether the number of complaints indicated a level of seagull displacement.

56.5    Councillor Hampson shared his experience and perception that there has been displacement of gulls from the City Centre to other wards and enquired as to whether any action was planned to investigate this.  He further queried whether there was any requirement for developers to consider gull prevention measures as part of the planning process.

56.6    Councillor Pullen strongly requested that work was conducted to address the displacement of gulls having received numerous complaints from residents of his ward.

56.7    The Vice-Chair asked whether more detail on the survey could be provided, chiefly in the matter of its scientific basis and whether it could be consider a valid form of measurement.

56.8    The Head of Communities stated that there had not been a great deal of research conducted on gull breeding and that the contractors engage in high level inspections of sites when looking for areas with a high breeding rate. He further stated that other local authorities had used this method and that the survey would include the residential areas that Members raised. It was also indicated that relevant variance can be ‘in-built’ to the design of the survey.

56.9    Councillor Hilton enquired as to whether the introduction of food caddies for the disposal of waste had reduced the propensity of gulls to congregate around the Gloucester Household Recycling Centre and further enquired about the Centre’s proposed closure.

56.10  Councillor Cook confirmed that the Recycling Centre was due to close towards the end of 2019 or early 2020 and that less food waste was going to this centre.

56.11  The Chair noted the reduction in funding for the programme if the survey went ahead and asked how it would affect the continuation of its work.

56.12  Councillor Patel expressed further concern that the allocated budget was not adequate for the scale of the task and that the displacement of gulls was becoming a serious issue.

56.13  Councillor Dee explained that he understood the budgetary constraints. He also expressed that people feeding gulls exacerbated the issue and recommended publishing some public information on this.

56.14  Councillor Hawthorne raised the matter of gulls’ laying eggs in April and whether officers of the Council were confident the programme could be effected in timely preparation for this.

56.15  The Head of Communities confirmed that they were confident of having the programme in place at a time commensurate with breeding patterns.

56.16  With regard to the discussion, the Head of Communities stated that the complaints received were, in the main, related to the feeding of gulls and, as such, did not give an indication of displacement or otherwise. He expressed his appreciation for the points raised by members on the displacement of gulls and that the proposed 2018 survey would look at this question. He further stated that if displacement were to be shown in the survey, guidance would be provided to residents to aid assistance on the issue. It was also confirmed that, upon approval by the Council, a package of public information on the issue will be built.

56.17  RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND TO CABINET -

(1)  To procure a contract for a Gloucester City Gull Survey to be carried out during 2018 from within the existing gull management budget (cost – circa £4000 - £6000);

(2)  To procure a contract to continue undertaking a nest & egg removal programme across a reduced number of the existing identified sites (these to be determined through agreement with the contractor upon procurement) or a reduced number of visits across the full range of sites  (value - circa £14,000 - £16,000), and

(3)  To use the results of the 2018 Gloucester City Gull Survey to inform our nest & egg removal programme for 2019 and beyond and in particular the location of sites to be focussed on.