AN additional £10,500 to tackle gulls has been given the final sign-off by city councillors.
The spend, which will be used to fund three projects on top of Worcester City Council’s usual gull control work, was ratified by policy and resources committee on Tuesday (November 19).
It had previously been agreed by the council’s environment committee earlier this month.
Lloyd Griffiths, the council’s corporate director for operations, homes and communities, said: “There’s a core budget for gulls that stands at around £30,000.
“That covers three elements – subsidised work around gull-proofing, subsidised egg and nest removal and officers costs.
“Officers’ recommendation is that money is taken from reserves, rather than adding it as a budget pressure,” said Mr Griffiths, adding that there are three sets of environmental reserves containing a total of more than £200,000.
The additional money will fund the gull-proofing homes in areas where gulls have been displaced to, nest and egg removal from a vacant BT building in Charles Street and anti-perching measures in High Street.
Councillor Karen Lewing, who is vice chair of the environment committee, said gull officers are confident they could make a big difference with “a little bit more money”, but as a protected species itis important that we get the right balance of keeping our license to remove nests in the most sensitive locations and also prevent damage to historic buildings and disturbance to people going about their daily business in the city centre.
“That’s where the idea for these projects came from,” she said, “particularly the idea of getting rid of the roosting positions on the high street.
“We have seen swooping on residents when they are eating and actually it’s learned behaviour so if we can prevent it growing, that’s a really good piece of work.
“We’re also looking at a vacant building that’s next to some sensitive buildings – a doctor’s surgery and a school, so that’s also quite a vulnerable area of the city with about 18 nests across the two roofs.”
Environment committee had heard that Worcester’s biggest gull populations are in and around the Blackpole Trading Estate, Shire Business Park and the city centre.