The subject of gulls and the ‘problems’ they seem to bring to a city like Bath is something you broach at your peril.
With a recent political shift in colour from yellow to blue both our new – and relatively young – MP and the now ruling Conservative group on B&NES need to be seen to be doing something.
In both cases the public has been invited to voice opinions on how best to discouraging what is a protected bird from taking up residence in the heart of Bath and then feeding on both our officially discarded food refuse and the remnants of last night’s walk-home takeaway.
Bath MP Ben Howlett believes in getting across the message of a proper disposal of unwanted foodstuffs and maybe even appointing ‘gull wardens’ amongst our communities to advise people on how best to discourage eager gulls from attacking what has been put out on the doorstep.
Now a B&NES contact tells me of another possible idea which might help matters. I don’t believe there is anything in the pipeline to replace the whole existing refuse collection service, but there is talk of trying to find suitable spots to park wheelie bins specially provided for food waste.
Though gull proof – as long as the lid stays shut – the challenge would be to find spaces to put them that weren’t too sensitive in terms of Georgian architecture.
It wouldn’t look good if B&NES was accused of helping to destroy the beauty of the place by having even more ugly wheelie-bins scattered across this World Heritage city.
Where it was possible to tuck them away the idea would be that people – especially those living in flats – would be able to properly dispose of their food waste and not have it spread across the pavement outside their door.
Hidden somewhere at the end of a terrace or street it would be a focal point for waste disposal.
Helping to revive community spirit and make people more aware of their joint responsibilities are two arguments put forward for thinking this idea through.
Maybe it would help if the bins bore slogans or pictures of beautiful – unlittered – Bath. What do you think?
