ACTION ON SWANS AND GEESE
Many parishioners will be aware of a debate that has taken place at Mistley Parish Council meetings and in the local press regarding the practice by Swan Watch of feeding swans and other birds off the foreshore at the Walls.
It has been proposed that a meeting be held in September 2008 of Swan Watch and its legal advisor, with the council to assist in resolving this problem.
We would appreciate the views, in writing, of as many people as possible. Your comments would be gratefully recieved and may well be of help in reaching an amicable solution to this problem.
Write to Richard Ling, Clerk to Mistley Parish Council, White Gables, Hungerdown Lane, Lawford, Manningtree, CO11 2JN or email richard@ling44.fsnet.co.uk by the middle of September please.
WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?
The council has had more complaints about this issue than any other. Some years ago local charity Swan Watch moved its main swan feeding site from Mistley quay to the greensward by the shelter at the Towers end of the Walls. It has also increased how much and how often it feeds them.
The council values the swans highly, and does not wish to lose the swans, or prevent members of the public from feeding them. But feeding them with many buckets of grain, several times a day, all year round, on the greensward and foreshore, has had serious environmental consequences.
The overfeeding has attracted over 300 Canada geese. The massed birds are destroying the greensward and river bank, fouling the pavement and becoming a danger to traffic and pedestrians. Swan Watch regularly leaves buckets of water for the
swans when there is a freshwater stream within yards of their feeding
site. The regular spreading of grain on the greensward and beach is also attracting increasing numbers of rats.
WHAT CAN BE DONE?
On advice from English Nature and the RSPB, Mistley Parish Council and Tendring District Council have asked Swan Watch to FEED ONLY FROM THE QUAY immediately, and eventually only in winter and severe weather.
This is because, while healthy swans will feed in the water and on land, the geese will only feed on land. If the birds are fed from the Quay only, as in the past, we can keep our swans and encourage the geese to return to their normal migratory pattern. The greensward on the Walls (which the council has a duty to maintain) will also be able to regenerate and become a pleasant place to visit once more.
THE COST TO YOU
The riverbank by the shelter has been badly eroded by the birds moving up and down it since Swan Watch started feeding there. The council recently received a quote of £25,000 for work to restore the bank and protect the foundations of the shelter. We would obviously wish to avoid spending so much of your money on this work and are actively looking for other solutions. If the swans were fed only from the quay they would spend less time on the greensward and vegetation there will grow back in time.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Carry on bringing down your stale crusts for the swans, as long as you feed them in the water as they can choke on dry food. Good places are either at the small stream on the Walls by the Hopping Bridge, or from Mistley Quay. But please don't feed the swans from inside your car, as they cause mess and obstruction on the pavement, and it encourages them into the road.
WANT TO COMMENT
Email mistley@pobox.com
Swan Watch can be contacted on 01206 397251
