Motion on seagull numbers is likely to be agreed without too much squawking

According to Councillor Mitchell concerns have been expressed by residents and businesses regarding the number of urban seagulls nesting in the city

Tomorrow’s full council meeting will once again discuss the vexed question of “urban seagulls” as Conservative Councillor, Max Mitchell, who represents the Inverleith Ward in the city, has tabled a motion lamenting the lack of control of numbers in Edinburgh and wants something done about it.

He calls on the Edinburgh City Council Leader to “write to the Scottish Government requesting they instruct NatureScot to adapt the licensing scheme to allow local authorities more ability to react and control the numbers of seagulls and their nests within urban areas, and that these adaptations should support residents’ licence applications as well”.

This thorny issue has been the subject of debate up in the High Street before. I well remember a councillor who represented an inner-city ward demanding that action be taken to redress this problem and this was over 20 years ago.

Then, we were reliably informed, that if the offending seagulls’ food supply was cut off, as it would be with the rollout of wheelie bins and the phasing out of black plastic bags for household waste, seagull numbers would naturally decline as a consequence. Less food equals less chicks, or so the theory went.

According to Councillor Mitchell concerns have been “expressed by residents and businesses regarding the number of urban seagulls nesting in the city, especially within tenement areas and the negative impact this is having on amenity and health”.

The motion is likely to be passed without much squawking as councillors will want to be seen to be doing something about a problem it was thought was dealt with some time ago. It will be interesting to see what the Scottish Government and, more importantly, NatureScot make of it once the matter lands on their desk.

Their website tells us that their purpose is to “enable greater understanding and awareness of nature and promote the sustainable use of Scotland’s natural heritage”.

Taking on board the concerns of residents and the welfare of wildlife, namely, in this instance, seagulls, they will no doubt take a bit of reconciling.