Hansard

Margaret Ewing referred to her husband's experience of being attacked by seagulls when he was running near Lossiemouth, where I used to love to walk. She has reminded me of an incident that occurred while I was training for the 1985 Edinburgh marathon. As I was running round Arthur's Seat against a stiff breeze, I overtook a rather bemused-looking seagull that was attempting to fly in the same direction. That was a proud moment.

Gulls are a serious problem in parts of Edinburgh. I recently attended a meeting in Bruntsfield at which the residents were up in arms about, and most distressed by, the number of gulls that nest on roofs in that part of Edinburgh. A representative from the City of Edinburgh Council told the meeting that, under present regulations, he could not do anything about the situation, as he was not empowered to do anything about it and did not have a budget that he could use for that purpose. Letters continued to be exchanged and, thankfully, the City of Edinburgh Council changed its mind and was able to give the Bruntsfield residents some assistance in dealing with a problem that was becoming a dangerous pest. Many people who visit Edinburgh stay in bed and breakfasts in the Bruntsfield area and I am sure that they are just as fed up as the people who stay in Scotland's coastal resorts.

That example reinforces David Mundell's point about the need for our local authorities to have clarity, so that they can deal with the growing problem of gulls by allocating budgets and obtaining the best advice. I congratulate David Mundell on securing the debate.

Margaret Ewing mentioned the fishing industry. I will take a holistic view of the issue. One of the problems of the common fisheries policy has been that, during the past 20 to 30 years, our boats have been compelled to dump so many fish over the side that the gulls have virtually forgotten how to fend for themselves. They have learnt to live off offal. That might well be why, in the absence of those benefits, they have started to descend on our towns and villages and to become a pest. It might be possible to establish that scientifically.

I want to draw to the attention of the minister the design of litter bins. I recently visited somewhere further along the coast than Portobello. I noticed that, even though the beach had just been cleaned, there was litter all the way along the seafront. Gulls have worked out how to get into litter bins, pull out the chip packets and consume their contents. Guidance needs to be given to local authorities, because there are other bins that can be used. For example, I think that the bins that we have recently installed in Edinburgh are gull-proof. I certainly would not like to be a gull trying to get into them. We need guidance, and maybe even encouragement, from the Executive on the design of litter bins to make them not only gull-proof but crow-proof, because crows are becoming more prevalent in city centres.