Not long ago, Brigg Blog flagged up the pigeon problem in Cressey Yard – used as a walkway by many shoppers between Wrawby Street and the Old Courts Road car park.
After overnight rain on Sunday morning we found the tenfoot looking even more of a mess than unusual, accumulated pigeon poo having combined with water from the heavens above to make things unpleasant and slippery underfoot.
Someone needs to tackle this issue, and here are couple of suggestions...
1 “Remove” the pigeons from this area of the town centre
2 Jet wash the walkway
If (1) is not possible/desirable then (2) should be carried out a couple of times a week – ahead of Saturday and Thursday when the maximum number of shoppers are about.
Shoppers who walk through here, get the congealed mess on their shoes and then transfer it into their cars will be none too happy.
Our businesses value EVERY customer and the town can’t afford to put any of them off making return visits to Brigg.
Another solution might be to put temporary warning signs at each end of this walkway, advising those on foot to use another of the many alternative routes between Wrawby Street and the car park.
But surely it would be better to tackle the source of the problem.
Essentially. stop feeding the birds...
ReplyDeleteClamp down of food litter louts...
Ensure that those premises which have on-street eating areas are regularly swept clean....
Legislation already exists to enforce food take-aways to assume responsibility for litter originating from their outlets - let's use it..
Culling the pigeons will have little medium/long-term affect if Brigg centre acts a major food source...
Contrary to the misconception, pigeons are not 'rats with winga'.
ReplyDeleteThey don't carry diseases.
The basic reasons that pigeons are flocking around Brigg centre are that the area offers food and shelter.
The source of the 'problem' is the plentiful supply of food - and as scavengers. the pigeons will thrive and breed on such tit-bits.
Unless the the source is eliminated then the actual and perception dilemma could become much worse.
At the moment, the pigeons are devouring much of the food little left about the town - essentially, they are acting like natural vacuum cleaners.
Cull the instrument of cleansing - ie the pigeons - the food litter will increase....and then we could have a real problem.....without the competition of the pigeons scavenging the food, rats will have a free range to the bountiful supply of discarded food scraps....
In many ways, the pigeons are robbing rats of food scraps and, therefore, affecting the rats population.
If folks want to cull the pigeons they must do it for proper reasons...and not do it because of some unfounded and misguided notion that they carry diseases.
Pigeon droppings are messy and unsightly........but tackle the problem at source - REDUCE FOOD LITTER ABOUT THE PLACE......and that itself will naturally affect the local pigeon population - many will migrate to other areas where alternative food sources can be found.
Pigeons are not the course of the problem - they are the result of an underlying problem...and unless the basic problem is tackled, a cull of pigeons could quite easily stimulate the population of rats feasting on the chips, bits of pizza, the odd sarnie and the egg-fried rice cartons left about the Market Place.....