Agenda item

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

 

“1.0      Purpose of Report

 

1.1       The purpose of the report is for Members to consider a report by the Belfast City Airport outlining its ongoing bird control management and to consider a request from Belfast City Airport (BCA) to gain access to Victoria Park to carry out pricking of greylag geese eggs. This is part of an ongoing control programme in line with their Wildlife Hazzard Assessment and the Civil Aviation Authority licensing requirements. 

 

2.0       Recommendations

 

2.1       Members are asked to:

 

                                          i.          Note the report from Belfast City Airport on Bird Control Measures at Victoria Park;

                                         ii.          Consider permissions requested to enter Victoria Park to facilitate the continuation of pricking of un-hatched greylag goose eggs under licence issued by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA). This intervention to control birds in the flight path to the airport is a requirement of the airport’s Civil Aviation Authority licence; and

                                       iii.          Instruct officers to work with legal services to issue a relevant licence for a period of 3 years which will be subject to annual review in advance of renewal.

 

3.0       Main report

           

3.1       At the 6th of October meeting, the Committee considered a Notice of Motion and agreed to review permission to BCA to enter Victoria Park for the management of un-hatched eggs under licence from the NIEA. 

 

3.2       It was noted that the ongoing control programme had significantly reduced the greylag goose population in the park and that the decision to grant permission was taken a number of years ago. 

 

3.3       As such, officers were instructed to review the decision and produce a report for Councillors toconsider options before the next confirmation of the permission is granted.

 

3.4       In response to officer request for detailed supporting information, the Airport has prepared a report which outlines their bird control programme over a number of years.

 

3.5       Table 1 presents an overview of ongoing bird control measures at Victoria Park: Source BCA report.

 

 

 

Species	Risk assessment	Existing management	Actions requested from BCC	Permissions sought from BCC
Greylag Goose	Medium	Use of signage at Victoria Park to reduce supplementary feeding. Control of population by egg ‘pricking’.	Maintenance of signs in Victoria Park	Permission to continue ‘pricking’ eggs in Victoria Park under permit from NIEA (applied for and reviewed annually)
Mute Swan	Medium	Use of signage at Victoria Park to reduce supplementary feeding.	Maintenance of signs in Victoria Park	None
Mallard	Medium	Use of signage at Victoria Park to reduce supplementary feeding.	Maintenance of signs in Victoria Park	None
Lesser Black-backed Gull	High	Monitoring of breeding population.  Surveys of feeding sites and flightlines (BCA)	BCC should investigate options to manage urban gulls within the planning system	None
Herring Gull	Medium	Monitoring of breeding population.  Surveys of feeding sites and flightlines (BCA)	BCC should investigate options to manage urban gulls within the planning system	None
Black-headed Gull	Low	Monitoring of breeding population.  Surveys of feeding sites and flightlines (BCA)	None	None
Grey Heron	Medium	Monitoring of the impact of  structural pruning in 2018 on nesting	None	None
Rook	Low	Control of new Rookery to prevent the formation of a large colony. Monitoring of recent pruning and some nest removal on nesting.	None	None

 

3.6       Key Species

 

            Greylag Geese:

 

            Committee is reminded that at its meetings in January 2010 and August 2011, the committee agreed a range of measures to control greylag geese numbers within Victoria Park including

 

·        the erection of fencing to prevent access for the geese to safe breeding areas and easy access to and from the water.

·        the planting of shrubs along parts of the lake to prevent the geese having easy access to and from the water.

·        undertaking an awareness raising campaign to dissuade members of the public from feeding the geese/birds.

·        the continuation of annual egg pricking of greylag geese under licence

·        the monitoring of these measures to assess their effectiveness.

 

3.7       The control programme, aimed at making the site less attractive to geese, has been effective with a steady decline in numbers.  It is worth noting that although the reduction in greylag overwintering, breeding and moulting at Victoria Park has been successful it has taken almost 15 years to achieve.  The Airport note this situation could easily be reversed if greylag geese were allowed once again to rear young and reassert a lifelong association with the site.  The control programme should also be considered within the context of significant local greylag geese increases, for example in North Down numbers increased from 150 in 2008 to almost 600 in 2019 (BCA Report).

 

3.8       Rooks:

 

            Committee is reminded that at its meeting in January 2021 it acceded to a request from BCA to carry out works under licence, to remove old rook nests and habitat alterations at the North East corner of the park.  After careful monitoring this season, if required, permission will be sought under delegated authority to undertake further work to discourage the rookery from establishing.

 

3.9       Overview

 

            This Belfast City Airport bird control programme has been underway for a number of years and is underpinned by scientific surveys and research.  Egg pricking is completed under licence from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency and reviewed on an annual basis.  The Airport continues to monitor the effectiveness of the programme and bird strike risk, further details are provided in the full report which is appended to the agenda.

 

3.10      Members are advised that the BCA control programme and associated interventions are a matter between the airport and the NIEA as the regulator and competent authority for the relevant licences.  BCA must provide supporting documentation to outline their plans and provide the necessary evidence to demonstrate they have weighed all options and their preferred approach is measured (ie not extreme).  It will then be the responsibility of the regulator to assess the application and grant any agreed licence.

 

3.11      The Belfast City Airport approach to Belfast City Council is to request continued access to Victoria Park to facilitate the ongoing control programme including the continuation of pricking of un-hatched greylag goose eggs under the NIEA granted licence.

 

3.12      If members are content, officers will work with legal services to issue a relevant licence for a period of 3 years which will be subject to annual review in advance of renewal. 

 

3.13      To support the review, BCA will be required to submit an annual report outlining their Wildlife Control Management Plan (WCMP) noting recommendations based on the risk assessment made in the annual Wildlife Hazard Assessment (WHA) and incorporating any new control methods as they become available.

 

3.14      Officers will review the submitted risk assessment and insurance certificates in line with procedure. The licence will include relevant conditions to ensure that health and safety measures are implemented, essential signage is assembled, one-way systems are established where necessary and other necessary arrangements are put in place.

 

            Financial and Resource Implications

 

3.15      BCA will be responsible for all costs associated with the request.

 

            Equality or Good Relations Implications/

            Rural Needs Assessment

 

3.16          None.”

 

            At the request of a Member, the Director of Neighbourhood Services undertook to liaise with Belfast City Airport (BCA) to suggest that it consider publishing its ‘Bird Control for Air Safety in Belfast Report’ via its own media channels, as had been suggested that this might help inform the public in regard to the required actions and measures being taken.

 

            The Director of Neighborhood Services also provided an update to the Members in regard to the progress in relation to permission granted to the Airport at the January 2020 meeting.  He reminded the Members that the BCA had been granted permission by the Council to access Victoria Park to enable it to carry out works to ensure compliance with its risk assessment relating to Rooks.  The Members were advised that, to date, BCA had concluded the works relating to the removal of an old rook nest and the pruning back of vegetation.   BCA had not confirmed if it needed to exercise its request to remove any new nest foundations and the Director advised that he would keep the committee updated accordingly. 

 

            The Committee:  

 

·        granted the requested permissions to enter Victoria Park to facilitate the continuation of pricking of un-hatched greylag goose eggs under licence issued by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) and noted that the intervention to control birds in the flight path to the airport was a requirement of the airport’s Civil Aviation Authority licence; and 

·        granted officers authority to liaise with legal services to issue a relevant licence for a period of 3 years which would be subject to annual review in advance of renewal.