A £120,000 plan to tackle the ‘antisocial behaviour’ of gulls in North Yorkshire has been approved by North Yorkshire Council.
A new long-term blueprint for managing gulls across Scarborough, Whitby and Filey will be introduced as part of a strategy that includes investment in education campaigns, gull-proof rubbish bags, and new and retrofitted litter bins.
The £119,000 urban gull strategy was given the go-ahead by North Yorkshire Council’s executive committee on Tuesday, August 4.
Cllr Richard Foster, executive member for managing the environment, said: “This is how we as a council mitigate the antisocial behaviour of the gulls in the urban environment, and I think it’s quite a comprehensive batch of policies.”
The strategy will guide the council’s approach to managing gulls, with regular monitoring and reviews to ensure measures remain effective, lawful and aligned with conservation requirements.
Coastal councillors have also urged the authority to speed up plans for weekly food waste collections to stop gulls attacking bin bags. North Yorkshire Council is not set to start separate household food waste collections until 2043, but councillors have suggested a pilot programme for coastal areas.
Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Foster said: “I know the Scarborough and Whitby Area Committee would like us to do more on food collection, and I’d note that we’re currently going through our waste collection strategy and it’s probably going to be quite high on the agenda.”
Cllr Heather Phillips, executive member for corporate services, said: “Scarborough is full of teenage gulls, and they are very, very aggressive.
“They are fantastic birds, but they do live 20 years, and we need to take action and try and mitigate what they are doing.”
The key pillars of the new strategy focus on waste and rubbish, cleaning and jet washing, targeted proofing, monitoring, and planning.
Cllr Malcolm Taylor, executive member for highways and transportation, added: “I’d particularly like to commend the seasonal jetting, and there’s £50,000 allocated as part of this strategy.
“It’s a very positive step, and it will be welcomed by visitors and tourists alike if we can address some of those issues, including the guano.”
Speaking earlier this month, NYC environmental protection officer Tim Croot said any strategy needed to “take account of the needs of the birds as much as the needs of people”.
”The strategy from the very outset aimed to try and create some cohesion where we could have co-existence and acceptance of the birds,” he said.
”It is their coast as much as it is the humans’ coast.”
He said the method used by Scarborough Borough Council – which was amalgamated into North Yorkshire Council in 2023 – such as netting and spikes “wasn’t terribly successful”.