Pigeons 'plaguing' Biggleswade town centre are damaging iconic George's Hall building

Nick Fee, trustee of the Biggleswade Liberal Club, told a town council meeting that “the not-for-profit association is tasked with the upkeep of the iconic George’s Hall”.

He requested help with “the feral pigeons plaguing the Market Square and the surrounding conservation area”, saying: “Built in the 1910s, the premises was named in honour of the Liberal Party statesman and Prime Minister David Lloyd George.

“Since Covid we’ve seen an increasing number of pigeons nesting and resting on the roof. This has led to significant faeces, corpses and all of the resulting vegetation accumulating on the tiles and the ledges on the roof, and more specifically in the guttering and the drainage.

“We’ve had a quote of more than £8,000 just for the scaffolding to provide access for the maintenance work, which doesn’t include any cost of the repair and roof upkeep.

“This isn’t money the club can afford to spend, as it supports itself entirely from the money spent by members in the bar. Even if we were to find the money for this, we’re very concerned we’d be in the same situation in three or four years’ time with the same amount of removal required.

“It’s an issue which blights the whole town centre. A plan was put in place previously, but the topic seems to have been buried and no action was taken.

“We don’t know how to finance this. Can we invoice the town council or Central Bedfordshire Council’s (CBC) environmental health team?” he asked. “Can you address the problem itself?”

Town mayor Jonathan Woodhead explained: “You’re right that pigeon management has been raised in this chamber before to various different effect.

“We sympathise with your situation, running a business in this climate and one on the High Street with all the current issues there, without the extra problems you’ve just outlined.

“The things you talked about fit into the environmental health or public protection side of things, which is really a CBC responsibility. I wonder whether we can write to the appropriate director?

“This goes beyond George’s Hall. It’s in multiple locations. Century House is owned by Central Beds and that’s plagued by pigeons.”

Biggleswade Town Council’s (BTC) head of governance and strategic partnerships, Karim Hosseini, said: “Officers have treated this in varying stages by putting in meshing and spikes on the Century House building perimeter, as well as more meshing and some signage with the landlord’s permission around the Abbots Walk area.”

Conservative CBC Biggleswade East councillor Grant Fage suggested BTC has looked at various ways of addressing the pigeon problem previously.

“I was in touch with CBC recently and more than a year ago, and it’s been completely missing in action,” he added. “It got a little out of control last time, but there are different options available.

“I’m becoming increasingly concerned about pockets of the town and what these pigeons are doing. It’s the assets team at Central Beds (to contact).”

Town clerk Nikki Sewell offered to write a letter on behalf of the council and the Liberal Club trustees to highlight the issue.