A CONTROVERSIAL call to ‘cull the gulls’ in Worcester will be revived this evening after an outspoken councillor repeated his plea to ‘eradicate the flying rats’.
Despite city council chiefs agreeing to examine ‘all available options’ to tackle the problem at their last meeting in July, a furious Coun Alan Amos has tabled a motion calling for the gulls to be removed from the city on health and safety grounds for tonight’s (Tuesday) Worcester City Council meeting.
The gulls have been a feature of the city for a number of years despite high profile campaigns which has seen the introduction of gull proof litter bins and a scheme to replace gull eggs with dummy ones.
But the outspoken Bedwardine councillor branded the council’s policies an ‘abject failure’, despite now having a gull officer, a budget of £30,000 per year and a newly-formed Gull Forum.
“I think some of the leaflets we have posted asking people not to feed the gulls are well designed with a spot-on message but, unfortunately, they’ve had no noticeable impact and will not make any difference to those gullible idiots who carry on feeding the gulls thereby exacerbating and prolonging the misery of so many of our residents,” he said.
“On another point, even if we decide on enforcement action against those irresponsible people who actually feed and so encourage the gulls, there will be no effective enforcement of it because the council does not have a reputation for vigorously enforcing anything on our streets.”
“I attended the last meeting of the Gull Forum back in September in this very room and the frustration and anger of both residents and businesses were palpable and entirely understandable. We should not underestimate the nature and extent of the problem.
“Just look at the frontages on shops in the High Street such as Trailfinders and Accessorize, beautiful historic buildings defaced by these filthy creatures,” he added.
“So, the only solution left to us to deal with this growing problem is to eradicate these vicious flying rats. Some authorities in Scotland have already successfully obtained this permission. Let us be the first English authority to do so.
“In any case, what do we have to lose? Current policies have proved to be a waste of time and money. What is the alternative – more of the same old tired failures?
“The choice is ours – to do something, or not. Simple as that,” he added.
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