Council to stop gull cull

A RISE i n the number of gulls could be on the horizon following a decision to drop an Angus Council scheme to remove nests and eggs from local rooftops.

The long-running control has been used on residential properties across the district, but new protection for the birds has f orced t he authority to axe t he measure.

With the breeding season just weeks away, councillors are braced for a barrage of complaints and fear a surge in attacks by protective parent gulls.

The move f ollows a Scottish Natural Heritage consultation, which has led to the agency removing all gull species from general licence controls due to increasing concerns about their declining conservation status.

Councils can still make a one-off application to tackle nesting hotspots, but environmental services chief Stewart Ball said t he scheme cannot now operate legally.

Policy and resources committee councillors have agreed it should be dropped from April 1.

Mr Ball said: “For an egg and nest removal service to be effective, it has to be a long-term strategy applied over a wide geographical area.

“This option is effectively being removed by t he new licensing regime, as an individual licence would be required for each property, and it is expected that SNH will not allow repeat treatments to be carried out.”

Dundee City Council pest control officers also remove nests and eggs during the breeding season from April to July.