Public invited to meeting as misery grows

The scale of the gull problem in an Angus town has led to a public meeting being organised for this week to work out a way forward for residents and businesses whose lives are being made a misery by the birds.

Graham Burke of Pentland Livestock at Hillhead Business Park in Kirriemuir has said he is anticipating a large turnout after the initial reaction to the idea of setting up a forum for locals to have their say.

But he admits any action will come too late to save people from the miserable summer they have had to endure – including families whose children are too scared to go into the garden for fear of being attacked by protective parent gulls.

Mr Burke, who took over the former Richard Lawson yard last December, said he had been stunned by the scale of the problem.

Despite the barriers to culling gulls, he has echoed the view of Montrose councillor Tommy Stewart that it may be time to take the drastic step.

“We weren’t sure how big a problem it was when we took over, but it has just escalated and it is now a big issue – not just for us but the people who live in the area, especially the Northmuir,” said Mr Burke.

“We hold auctions every month which attract people from all over Scotland and even further afield, but they are coming up here, being bombarded by these gulls and coming out to find their vehicles covered in droppings.

“This is a large building with an asbestos roof so it creates certain difficulties to clear and we are talking about thousands of pounds every time we would need to go up and clear gutters which regularly get blocked.

“But even if we could move the gulls from our building, we realise that would only move them to residential properties and that is why I wanted to have the public meeting, so we could get people along to talk about what might be done.

“We have had people coming to us asking what we are going to do about it and I want people in the area to know we have looked at options. We are trying to keep the buildings in good order, but this is now a real problem issue.

“Children in gardens have been swooped on and it is getting out of hand, so I have a lot of sympathy for the people who live there and have to put up with it 24 hours a day, but we are limited in what we can do.

“As much as I do not like the idea of anything being culled, I think that is an option which has to be considered.

“We have asked local councillors to attend the meeting and hopefully we can get the views of people and try to get some progress on getting this sorted out.”

The meeting will take place at Hillhead Business Park in Cortachy Road tomorrow at 7pm.