Highland Council caves in over gull management as it’s understood partners threatened to walk away in a move forcing the local authority to reverse its position in the space of a lunch hour
An 11th hour intervention appears to have rescued Inverness’ full gull management programme – including the potential for egg and nest removal – by provoking a major reversal by Highland Council.
The Inverness committee was meeting to finalise grant applications from the city’s common good fund, including for the gull management programme which is run by Inverness BID.
We earlier revealed that the common good sub-committee recommended not approving the full amount requested by BID meaning that egg and nest removal would have been cancelled altogether.
But what a difference a lunch break makes as prior to breaking for lunch the committee looked set to reject the funding application yet when it returned a complete 180 change was tabled.
Bosses totally reversed their position, suspended standing orders to allow members to be re-balloted to reject the sub-committee position and grant the cash allowing the programme to proceed unchanged from the application.
It is understood that during the lunch break the council was contacted by Inverness BID who said they would not be willing to take forward a partial gull management as it would not be effective.
When the meeting continued, city leader Ian Brown announced that he would be backing changes but left it to senior council official David Hass to try and explain what happened.
Mr Haas said: “The purpose of the programme would be prejudiced and the view of parties is that it would be prejudiced beyond use so unless we agree to the programme today we don’t really have a programme that is effective.
“And that is following discussions with our partners in NatureScot and our partners at Inverness BID but very much led by the experts at NatureScot”.
A spokesperson for the BID Board refused to confirm whether or not the business representative body had intervened but they did say that the partial version of the scheme would have been “unworkable”.
They said: “During today’s committee meeting, there appeared to be uncertainty that the proposals were inclusive with the grant initially proposed for reduction before being reinstated. We can confirm the gull programme’s viability without full funding support would have been unworkable.’
What was decided?
Cllr Ian Brown included amendments tabled by Cllr Michael Gregson in his original motion to award the Inverness gull project the full application sum of £27,050, including £9663.
That motion acknowledged the commitments made by the council, Inverness BID, and locals to limit the problems caused by the growing and increasingly aggressive bird population.
To recognise the overall vulnerability of several natural bird species, the expectations placed on NatureScot in its conservation goals, and the consequent reduction in granting licence applications for egg and nest removal.
That the council would support the range of preventative and non-lethal measures proposed, and would also seek to maintain egg and nest removal while urging NatureScot to expedite the licensing process with Inverness BID.
The motion also called for a letter to be sent the minister responsible to highlight the situation in Inverness here with the purpose of creating more constructive relations with NatureScot
And it would also seek to enhance community involvement, and to increase public awareness through educational campaigns, events, and local partnerships, highlighting the programme’s environmental and community benefits.
But the council did not escape without criticism as opposition leader Alasdair Christie hit out at the “absolute chaos” that saw the "administration jumping around not knowing what to do as its plans were falling apart”.
So what happens next?
Now it is up to the Scottish Government’s quango NatureScot whether it will grant Inverness BID a license after stymying efforts to remove gulls’ eggs and nests last year by changing its guidance.
It original refusal or delay in granting a license came as a surprise to many because unlike most of the Scottish Government’s executive non-departmental public bodies, NatureScot is based in Inverness.
Not only that a board member is Margaret Davidson who was both a member of the Inverness committee when it approved the original gull management programme and the former council leader.
Another meeting to discuss Gulls in the City of Inverness and Area will be arranged for a future date.
