High Peak Borough Council’s plan to tackle geese in Buxton’s Pavilion Gardens
High Peak Borough Council has announced ‘enhanced cleaning’ in Pavilion Gardens as it vows to safeguard the public from hazardous goose waste.
The cleaning measures are being introduced to help mitigate the impact of the Canada Geese and safeguard the health of people visiting the park.
The numbers of this non-native species have grown significantly this summer due, in part, to people continuing to feed the birds despite repeated requests by the council not to.
As well as having a significant negative impact on the appearance and cleanliness of the play areas, paths and grassed spaces, their droppings - up to a kilo per adult goose per day - carry bacteria including e-Coli which could pose a risk to health.
To help reduce the potential risks, the council is increasing cleaning of the worst affected areas and introducing sanitising stations in high-use locations.
Councillor Damien Greenhalgh, Deputy Leader and Executive Councillor for Regeneration, Tourism and Leisure, said: “We cannot ignore these potential health risks – public safety has to be our primary concern so we need to take action now. In the short term, that includes making people aware of the risks, increasing the cleaning regime, and providing facilities for people visiting the park to clean their hands.
“In the longer term, that means considering other ways of managing geese numbers and restoring the balance in the park so that everyone can enjoy a safe, clean environment.
“The population of geese continues to dominate, pushing out native species and affecting biodiversity. People feeding the geese plays a significant part in attracting them to the Gardens and keeping them there, so the biggest thing we can all do immediately is stop feeding them. I urge people in the strongest terms to support us with this.”
The council has for some time been implementing measures including introducing waterside planting to create a barrier and, over time, discourage birds from grassed areas, public education, and increased signage around the park.
These measures have not yet had the desired effect so officers are developing other options for managing the geese population for councillors to consider.
This will include opportunities for ecological improvements and a site biodiversity plan.