Holyrood hears of Aberdeenshire coastal towns' gull issues
The issue of urban gulls being a nuisance to residents in North-east coastal towns has been raised in the Scottish Parliament.
Banffshire and Buchan Coast MSP Karen Adam, who recently held an online public meeting to try to find ways of tackling the issues, sought the support of the Scottish Government in coming up with solutions.
She explained that coastal towns were facing significant issues relating to gulls – the noise they make, damage to property and aggressive behaviour toward people during nesting season.
Environment Minister Màiri McAllan said the Scottish Government supported gull management through Nature Scot, which could issue licenses for the control of gulls where necessary. She highlighted nest and egg removal schemes which were available to local authorities.
And she added that a current UK Seabird Census aimed to estimate the populations of species that breed in urban environments, with the findings of this would helping inform future policy on urban gull management.
Ms Adam, who has written to Moray and Aberdeenshire councils about potentially streamlining the licensing process for pest control in dealing with urban gulls, said: “This is just the beginning in seeking tangible action, and I will do everything I can to help make that happen. It will be an incredibly tough challenge to get this under control but someone needs to try.”
Aberdeenshire Council is also reviewing ways to tackle the issue of urban gulls.