Bins not birds says project leader

Jan 30 2009 by Craig Robertson, Dumfries Standard Friday

THE MAN behind a major clean-up drive for Dumfries believes bringing in a bird of prey will not solve the town’s seagull problem.

Mark Jardine says the council would be better spending the £85,000 earmarked for the falcon-scheme on a raft of new litter bins and a dedicated team of rubbish collectors for the town.

His People’s Project is campaigning to make Dumfries the cleanest in the UK. And, while he thinks the Falcon may well scare away the terrorist gulls, Mark insists clearing away the food source is the only long-term solution.

He told the Standard: “We have all got to play our part and there would be no harm introducing a by-law to stop people feeding the gulls.

“It would be far better to spend this money on educating people not to drop litter, putting in more litter bins and employing more people in the town to pick up litter.

“The only sure-fire thing that is going to stop the seagulls is to get rid of the food source by stopping dropping litter.

“The falcon will work temporarily but, if people continue to drop litter all about the place, then the problem will come back.

“Dumfries could be a test-case if we could rid of the food source.”

Nationally reported figures have shown Dumfries and Galloway Council has spent £2.5million in the last tax year on clearing litter.

The figure was higher than most council’s in Scotland.

Mark said: “That is a lot of money to be spent in Dumfries and Galloway.

“When you start to think that, if people picked up their own litter, that money could be diverted into other areas and be spent on a lot of things that are more beneficial.”

He added: “We could make a big, big difference in this area if people stopped dropping litter and kept the place clean.”

Anyone interested in getting involved in Mark’s Standard-backed People’s Project should contact him at mark@jardinefunerals.co.uk.