Prestatyn councillor says local authority has given up on seagull menace

A council’s handling of the problems created by seagulls has been slammed by one of its members.

Prestatyn North county councillor Paul Penlington hit out at Denbighshire Council over what he felt was its failure to address the issue.

He said: “As far as I am aware, the council strategy is to express sympathy but do nothing.

“The county pest control service was cut in 2014. The county seems to have washed its hands of any responsibility for pests, including seagulls, since then.”

Complaints have been made by residents and businesses over what some see as a pest problem, with aggressive seagulls taking food from bins and being a nuisance.

Last year, the council considered using noise bombs to frighten the birds away from town centres.

But, in March, it agreed to start asking the public to not litter or feed the birds in an attempt to tackle the problem.
Cllr Penlington argued that this is not enough and more should be done about seagulls.

A spokesman for Denbighshire council said: “Like many other counties in Wales, and particularly coastal counties like Denbighshire, we are receiving regular complaints from our residents, businesses and visitors about the nuisance caused by herring gulls.

“We have recently reported to our Communities Scrutiny Committee on the progress we have made with our own council action plan to try to tackle the issue. These are actions we are taking across all service areas of the council.

“However, this is a national issue and one which we are unable to tackle alone and we are looking at developing a coordinated strategy with our regional partners.

“One of the actions within the plan was to launch a campaign to raise public awareness about the problem and how the public can help, such as by not feeding seagulls.

“Publicity has already taken place and further information  will be issued in relation to how food businesses in particular can help to reduce the problem by storing their waste properly and by providing enough bins.

“Officers continue to undertake advisory and enforcement work in relation to waste management, street cleansing, litter enforcement to address any issues to food waste being left out attracting seagulls.”

By Shane Brennan – Local Democracy Reporter