YOU BUNCH OF BIRD-BRAINS!
Backlash as trees near luxury flats are covered with spikes ... to stop pigeons messing up expensive cars
ANTI-BIRD spikes have been fitted on trees outside luxury flats to protect the expensive cars of residents from droppings. The devices – usually used to stop birds resting on the ledges and nooks of buildings – have caused outrage among environmentalists. They have been attached to two trees within the gated car park of two privately owned apartment buildings in an exclusive suburb of Bristol near the city’s famous Downs parkland. Critics said the spikes, installed by a management company, ‘look awful’ and have left the beech trees ‘uninhabitable to the birds’. They have been attached across several branches that overhang an area used to park a number of the residents’ cars, including BMWs, Audis and Mercedes.
One resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said: ‘The spikes are solely to protect the cars, there is no other reason. There is a big problem with bird droppings around here. They can really make a mess of cars, and for some reason the birds do seem to congregate around this area.’
The resident conceded that some might criticise the move, but said there are many more trees nearby for birds to roost and nest in: ‘We are right by the Downs.’
The apartments within the properties in Clifton are each worth around £500,000.
Green Party councillor Paula O’Rourke, who represents the area, said: ‘I’m aware that the landowner might be legally within their rights to do this to the trees as they seem to be on private land. However, I will be looking into this at the council. Whether allowed or not though, it looks awful and it’s a shame to see trees being literally made uninhabitable to birds – presumably for the sake of car parking.’
Hillcrest Estate Management, which installed the spikes in 2014, said it had tried a number of measures, including fake birds and noise deterrents, but had little success. A spokesman added that it was only ‘a few branches to deal with a localised problem beneath’.
A spokesman for Bristol City Council said: ‘It is on private property and there is no tree preservation order on the tree so it doesn’t fall within the council’s remit.’