BIRDS IN HAND

THIS IS THE BLOG OF COLIN JONES, RHYL TOWN COUNCILLOR: BODFOR WARD
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The opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own and not the views of the town council.
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The picture above shows one of my ward residents known as John the Pigeon Man a couple of years ago in Town Hall Square.

Pigeons and seagulls were on the town council agenda in September last year following a complaint from the manager of White Rose Centre about the cost of keeping his car park clean. The Mayor called for the humane culling of gulls and a bylaw prohibiting people from feeding birds.

[To many people culling means killing. The suggestion brought an angry response from the public.]

Yesterday evening at a committee meeting the matter came up again and there were sharp exchanges across the floor. Most speakers felt that the presence of a large number of seagulls in the town centre was a problem caused by people eating in the streets and failing to dispose of food waste sensibly.

I could find no public enthusiasm for the idea of a bylaw against feeding birds. It seemed mean-spirited to bring in a bylaw prohibiting an act of kindness. If there had been enough time I would have added that people who feed birds are not curable anyway. It is a form of compulsive behaviour; they couldn’t stop even if they wanted to.

One day when walking past John who was sitting contently surrounded by pigeons, I said, ‘Are you feeding those birds?’ He said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘Yes, you are!’

He replied, ‘No I’m not! There’s some seed in my pocket and they come and take it. I ain’t feeding ‘em, it’s self service!’

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