Councils and communities left to count the cost over gulls

Scarecrows, sonic scarers and lasers are being deployed in a costly war against avian pests – but the Scottish Conservatives want more done to protect the public.

Gulls started nesting at the beginning of April.

The quango NatureScot says it is difficult to issue licences to remove eggs and nests because of concerns over gull numbers declining.

But critics say gulls are causing more problems than ever in urban areas across the Highlands, Moray, Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen city.

Laser disturbance and sonic scarers are being deployed in Moray’s corporate and housing stock, as part of a £267,662 spend since 2020/21. A total of 19 gullproof bins also cost £43,924 since 2022.

Aberdeenshire spent £16,418 on scarecrows over the last two years, £358,964 on egg and nest removal over the last five years, another £255,475 on hawking and £2,254 on spikes at its buildings — a total of £633,111.

Although Aberdeen spent £22,975 on contractors to remove eggs and nests in the city centre between 2022 and 2024, and another £2,627 in “preventative” measures in 2022-23, it “currently has no initiatives planned” to do more.

Highland Council spent £52,882 on preventative measures at its properties.

Scottish Conservative rural spokesman and candidate for Moray, Tim Eagle, said:

“The SNP refuse to treat this as a matter of personal safety. They would rather point the finger at communities and say: ‘This is your fault. Your mess caused this.’ That is dodging responsibility because what we are seeing is an increasing number of serious attacks.

“The so-called seagull summit in October was a disaster, googly eyes and all.

“Our MSP inboxes often had issues of people being attacked, usually in open and rubbish-free spaces. This could be just outside their house or even just sitting in their garden, merely because they are near a nest.

“This is a problem that’s particularly acute for coastal communities, but gulls have the range to find their way inland, no problem.

“It’s a headache for councils who are already facing multimillion-pound black holes in their budgets as things stand.

“Jim Fairlie who was the SNP minister said ‘killing them and giving out licences willy-nilly was not the answer’.

“But if they don’t protect communities from larger, more aggressive birds, don’t invest in humane methods of control, and are happy if numbers are dropping via disease, that doesn’t sound like a very caring party of government, for either people or animals.”