Geese may be culled in move to clean up popular city park

The large population of geese at the city's Rowntree Park has meant their droppings have often left the grass unusable for picnics and games as well as making lakeside paths slippery and a potential safety hazard.

Concerns have also been expressed that the presence of the geese can intimidate children playing in the park.

A report on possible ways to manage the population of geese will be presented to York Council's executive member for leisure, culture and social inclusion, Coun Nigel Ayre, next Tuesday.

Council officers are recommending a range of methods to control the goose population in the park, such as taking steps to deter the birds from settling in the area as well as managing breeding.

A cull of geese could be instigated, although council officers have stressed that a licence would have to be obtained.

Distress calls or falconry could be used to frighten the geese away from the areas, and plans are being considered to educate the public not to feed the birds.

Council officers have also recommended that an egg-oiling programme to prevent new geese hatching should be continued.

Coun Ayre said: "Rowntree Park has been given a Green Flag award every year since 2004, but the judges often comment on the problems caused by geese as being one of the only negative aspects of the park.

"It is clear that something needs to be done to manage the population to ensure that residents and visitors are not put off visiting such a fantastic park.

"No single one of the proposed control methods will be effective by itself, so it will be necessary to use a range of different humane approaches to try to reduce the number of geese in the park.

"This is a problem in a number of other areas in the city and I hope that the measures introduced in Rowntree Park will provide a good test as to which are the most effective measures that can be used in other areas."

The National Bird Management Unit at the Food and Environment Research Agency was commissioned by the council to draw up a range of options to control the goose population.