Politicians have known as for a Scotland-wide seagull summit to be held amid warnings somebody may very well be killed.
Former Scottish Tory chief Douglas Ross instructed the nation’s parliament throughout a debate on the problem that individuals danger dropping their lives over the “rising drawback” of “nuisance” gulls.
Scots are being left “scared, attacked and traumatised”, fellow Tory Rachael Hamilton stated as she known as for a nationwide summit.
Ms Hamilton stated “aggressive” seagulls had attacked seven kids in a single month final 12 months in Eyemouth, leaving one woman “with gashes to her scalp and blood operating down her face”.
Agriculture minister Jim Fairlie had already promised to carry a seagull summit within the north of Scotland, however Ms Hamilton, who represents the south of Scotland, stated a summit for the entire nation is important.
The Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire MSP known as for motion on the “rising nuisance”, which she stated posed a well being and security danger to residents.
‘Actual concern’
Ms Hamilton stated the controversy was “vital” as she criticised what she stated was a scarcity of motion from the Scottish authorities, telling MSPs that “completely nothing” was getting finished.
“Aggressive seagull behaviour continues to trigger an actual concern amongst companies, amongst vacationers, amongst everyone that has something to do alongside the harbour,” she stated about her constituency in Eyemouth.
She stated one enterprise proprietor had described the scenario as “individuals being scared, attacked and traumatised”.
‘Extraordinarily critical concern’
Mr Ross stated in the course of the debate on Thursday, at some point earlier than summer time recess, that individuals would usually “smirk” when listening to that the Scottish parliament was discussing the issues round gulls – however he stated it was an “extraordinarily critical concern”.
The Highlands and Islands MSP stated constituents have instructed him they have been fearful about leaving their properties for worry of being “divebombed”, whereas others have suffered psychological well being points due to a scarcity of sleep attributable to noisy gulls.
He accused NatureScot of getting a battle of curiosity because the physique chargeable for each the licensing to manage birds and to preserve them.
He went on: “The behaviour of the SNP’s quango NatureScot confirms they’ve misplaced the plot. They’ve instructed individuals to guard themselves with umbrellas and even steered canines as a deterrent.
“The time has come to interrupt up NatureScot. There’s a clear battle of curiosity within the truth they’re chargeable for contemplating licences to manage gulls however are additionally chargeable for defending chicken numbers.”
He added: “The power of the cross-party assist in my debate right now needs to be all of the SNP authorities have to lastly act earlier than we see somebody killed resulting from being attacked by a gull.”
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Jim Fairlie, the minister for agriculture, warned that the problem of gulls was “lethal critical”, however stated that he couldn’t intervene on NatureScot to vary the licensing system as a result of it could go away the federal government open to judicial evaluate.
He urged individuals to cease feeding the birds, which he stated was the first cause for the problem.
(c) Sky Information 2025: Calls for Scotland-wide seagull summit amid warnings someone could be killed
