Pigeon problems prompt Biggleswade bank to call for spikes and netting

Flocks of roosting pigeons in Biggleswade town centre are prompting a local business to take action against them.

The local branch of a High Street bank has been pestered by an infestation of feral pigeons, only months after the town council considered a cull of the birds by having them captured and humanely shot.

Bird deterrent spikes and netting at the side and back of its premises are the subject of a planning application by Barclays Bank UK PLC to Central Bedfordshire Council.

Pigeons have been roosting on window ledges and on guttering within an alleyway, according to a planning and heritage statement submitted on behalf of the applicant by agent Stride Treglown.

“The branch has been subject to roosting from feral pigeons, which are dropping foul deposits around the curtilage of the building,” said the statement.

“There’s a build–up of this fouling on the building fabric, window ledges and hard landscaping on the site. This presents a health and safety hazard, as well as a risk to the functionality of the branch.

“The waste is unsightly, it damages the footway paving and presents a slip hazard to customers, staff, tradespeople and the general public as pedestrians.”

The full planning application includes the netting, the spikes and a steel mesh gate by the alleyway at the bank’s 45 High Street branch.

“Where bird waste builds up, the parasites and bacteria that thrive on it can migrate into the building and pose a risk to human health,” explained the statement.

“Bird waste is acidic, so continued exposure of the premises and pavement to the waste can cause corrosion and staining.

“The branch has consulted a specialist vermin contractor, which advised the installation of 50mm netting across the affected area with access granted via the steel mesh gate.

“The contractor also proposed installing stretches of spikes above the netting and some plant equipment located in this area to help deter roosting birds from depositing waste.”

Biggleswade town councillors agreed not to object to the plans at a full council meeting.

A planned cull of nuisance pigeons in the town centre earlier this year was halted in response to local opposition, with an online petition attracting more than 1,200 signatures.

The town council proposed using bait containers to remove the birds sensitively, and for them to be humanely shot later.

But news of this process prompted outrage locally, with the scheme branded “inhumane” and “unnecessary”.

The pigeons most commonly seen in towns today are descendants of the rock dove, originally domesticated by humans for food and for carrying messages, said the RSPB in its Living with Pigeons document.

“These feral pigeons have reverted to their wild state, yet still live closely among humans and exploit the inherent advantages of urban living.”

A final decision on the application is expected to be made eventually by CBC’s development management committee.