8:00am Saturday 4th September 2010
By Mark Stead
WAYS of controlling geese in one of York’s most popular parks are to be examined after a wave of complaints from visitors.
Droppings left by the large goose population in Rowntree Park and the birds’ intimidating behaviour have sparked fresh calls for action.
A list of options drawn up by City of York Council officers includes carrying out a cull of the geese or using “non-lethal deterrents” such as distress calls or falcons to scare them away, encouraging people not to feed the birds and preventing new eggs hatching in the park by oiling them with paraffin.
The options will be discussed later this month at a decision session for the authority’s executive member for leisure, culture and social inclusion, Coun Nigel Ayre.
Coun Ayre, The Press understands, is in favour of the non-lethal options for controlling the geese.
In a written report, Dave Meigh, the council’s head of parks and open spaces, states: “This is a long-standing problem with the issue first being considered in October 1996.
“Letters regularly appear in The Press and the Green Flag judges (who assess the quality of parks and have given Rowntree Park an award every year since 2004) often comment on the problems caused by geese as one of the few negative aspects of the park.”
The Friends of Rowntree Park said they were “concerned” about the level of goose droppings. But they stated: “We feel it is essential to find measures which will reduce geese reproduction rates locally in a humane fashion”.
Coun Ayre said: “It is clear something needs to be done to manage the goose population to ensure residents and visitors are not put off visiting such a fantastic park.
“No single one of the proposed control methods will be effective in itself, so it will be necessary to use a range of different approaches to try to reduce the number of geese in the park. I hope the measures introduced in Rowntree Park will provide a good test as to which are the most effective measures which can be used in other areas.”
In 2005, a proposed cull of Canadian geese in Rowntree Park led to York-born Oscar-winning actress Dame Judi Dench backing a campaign to save them, offering to rehouse the birds at her local swan sanctuary.
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