A Labour council is considering whether to cull Canada Geese at a popular East Midlands beauty spot after concerns over the health risks posed by the birds’ mass droppings.
High Peak Borough Council in Buxton has increased cleaning around Pavilion Gardens, particularly in areas used by children and installed sanitising stations.
Signs have also been put up urging visitors not to feed the geese, amid concerns about E. coli associated with their excrement.
Damien Greenhalgh, deputy leader of the council, said officials were examining a range of measures to address the problem, including the possibility of a cull.
“We need to look at every single option. We’re not at that point yet, but that’s potentially where we may end. We’re trying every single non-lethal method.”
However, independent councillor Madeline Hall has questioned whether killing the birds would solve the problem, arguing that more geese could simply return to the park.
Ms Hall, a former head of Capel Manor environmental college in London, has called for greater emphasis on preventing the birds from settling in the area and discouraging visitors from feeding them.
She said people caught feeding the geese should be fined under littering rules, rather than simply being warned by signs.
The current UK population of Canada Geese is about 160,000 | WIKICOMMONS
The councillor also suggested installing small fences around the lake to prevent the birds from moving between the water and surrounding grassland, alongside planting more vegetation in areas where they currently gather.
She added: “At the moment, we put up welcome flags for geese. These are creatures that can fly at 30mph, they have got very good eyesight, they are put on the moors and they can actually scan for super places to be.
“If we put food out and have access to water they will come.”
The geese are non-native to the area and were not intentionally introduced to Pavilion Gardens.
Ms Hall previously organised an online consultation about the birds in 2023, but said the results showed opinion remains divided.
“I genuinely believe it’s still split and there’s nuance within that, between those people who think they should be left completely alone, those people who want to carry on feeding them, and those people who like to see them occasionally,” she added.
Paul McBride, who walks in the park, said he would support killing the birds, only if their meat was put to use.
“It might be worth doing the cull around Christmas time so you can make use of the actual body of the goose, but culling geese just to cut the numbers down and then those bodies being thrown away as waste, I don’t agree with that at all,” he told the BBC.
High Peak Borough Council has increased cleaning around Pavilion Gardens in Buxton
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Meanwhile, Myra Mannering, who regularly visits Pavilion Gardens, said she supported a cull as she believed the goose population had become too large.
“The numbers are getting out of control and they’re beginning to be a nuisance,” she added.
“Even deer are culled because they can get too many of them. I love deer and I don’t particularly love the geese.
“I do appreciate that when there’s too many you have to take measures.”