Moray Council to urge Elgin seagull cull in Scottish Government letter
A council has pushed for more powers to tackle “the seagull menace”, warning that the numbers of town birds must be “drastically reduced”.
Moray Council agreed to write to The Scottish Government to push for “urgent action” during a full council meeting.
Councillor Sandy Keith (Elgin City North, Labour) submitted a notice of motion and argued that “decisive action” was needed to “reduce the menace of seagull numbers in Elgin and elsewhere”.
He added that the Scottish Government could easily give councils the power to reduce seagull numbers, and had to “act urgently to address the matter” as locals were “living in fear of attack”,
“Anecdotally, tourists are telling us they don't plan to come back to Elgin due to the seagull nuisance and mess,” Cllr Keith said.
“I support culling seagull numbers. Seagulls should be at the seashore and not in our towns.
“Their numbers need to be drastically reduced.”
The Elgin councillor also highlighted how much public cash was being spent on trying to solve the seagull problem.
Moray Council spent £100,000 tackling seagulls last year, he said, with a further £26,000 allocated on sonic devices around Elgin this year from the Elgin Common Good Fund.
Cllr Keith pinned the blame on the Scottish Government agency NatureScot, which sets the rules for dealing with seagull populations.
“It cannot be right when public resources are stretched as at present time, that we have a public agency making it next to impossible to finally deal with the problem and effectively ignoring the cost to the public purse,” he added.
“These birds are not rare, like hen harriers or peregrine falcons. We'll gladly take anyone from NatureScot out to see plenty of these birds.
“And we won't need to get in a reed bed before dawn and not talk for hours to get a look at them.
“We'll just need to go into almost any area of Elgin to see loads of them.
“Currently the public does not believe that the law is protecting them against the seagull menace.
“NatureScot only sees the birds as something to be protected and the needs of humans to be ignored.”
The approach taken by the agency toward seagulls is different to that of beavers, he added.
“Interestingly, the legal control of beavers in Scotland is supported by NatureScot and in 2021 and 2022 a total of 150 were shot,” Cllr Keith said.
“Beavers are far fewer in number than seagulls and are not currently in urban areas, so why the different attitude by NatureScot?”
The motion’s seconder Councillor John Divers (Labour, Elgin City South) said rules around dealing with seagulls have become much tighter in recent years.
Previously, he said, councils could apply for licenses for whole areas at a time, but new rules mean individual licenses are now needed for each property.
He argued: “From an egg being laid to hatching, it takes approximately three weeks.
“But when you contact NatureScot, it's taking four and five weeks for them to come back to you and actually have these nests and eggs removed.
“And it shows you - somebody's at it.”
Cllr Divers accused the agency of trying to “nullify everything that we’re doing” as the council spends more and more trying to reduce numbers.
“And it’s not just the finance of the council and the finance of the common good,” the Elgin councillor added.
“We've got a number of businesses in Elgin that are spending thousands of pounds every year to deal with a gull problem.
“And I say a gull problem because apparently, that's officially what they are. There’s no such thing as a seagull, people will tell you.
“But commonly, they are known as seagulls. I could use another name, but not in the chamber.
“I will leave it at that before I go on my high horse.”
Conservative Councillor Amber Dunbar (Elgin City South) said she was “delighted to support this motion” as gulls were the number one concern constituents raised with her.
“It's becoming increasingly frustrating to have to explain there's not much more than we're already doing, within the bounds of the law, that can be done,” she said.
“We've heard this morning, the issues caused by the gulls. So I won't repeat them.
“I will, however, note my annoyance at the gull on my own roof that woke me up before my alarm this morning.
“I would emphasise, however, that this is not simply an annoyance.
“It is a serious problem affecting the well-being of residents.”
A suggestion from Councillor Marc Macrae (Conservative, Fochabers Lhanbryde) that the motion be changed to include all of Moray, rather than just Elgin, was accepted by Cllr Keith.
Cllr Macrae said: “I am very much in agreement with the sentiment of the motion in front of us this morning.
“I have to be awkward, as is my prerogative.
“It makes an interesting tongue twister, I think because Cllr Keith spoke about seagulls by the seashore.
“I don't know if she sells seagulls by the seashore.”
“It is very disappointing that NatureScot chose the protection of some species of wildlife before they looked at the protection of homes and people across the area,” he added.
“And I think it's a sad state of affairs that some of these gulls, the herring gulls in particular, probably would be by the seashore if we had a government prepared to protect our Scottish fishing industry rather than see it decimated.”
The motion was nodded through without a vote.
