Seagull plan falls through

Sep 15 2010 by Kieran Westbrook, Dumfries Standard Wednesday

PLANS to ban people who feed seagulls from Dumfries town centre have been dropped.

Councillors yesterday backed away from a proposal to create a no-feeding zone.

They had been warned that it could be difficult to enforce a ban.

A vote divided the councillors of the planning, housing and environment services committee down the middle.

But with the vote at deadlock, the committee’s chairman Roger Grant held the casting vote and opted to keep the status quo.

He said: “Clearly this is a problem in Dumfries, but we need to bear in mind the economic position we are in.

“I think we need to leave this for the winter and look to hold a campaign next year.

“We need to educate people about the problem and then approach it again in the future.”

The report which went before councillors yesterday, suggested a no-feeding boundary of Buccleuch Street, Shakespeare Street, the Whitesands, and the High Street as an option.

The report also warned that repeat offenders of the gull feeding could recieve an exclusion order, forcing them to keep out of the zone.

But it was decided not to take forward the plans.

Councillors have tried removing nest eggs and introduced birds of prey around the town centre, in attempts to discourage the gulls from returning to the area.