Hotel 'highly suitable' for kittiwake nesting site

Nests for up to 1,050 kittiwakes could be installed at a landmark hotel as part of efforts to limit noise and mess from the birds.

A council-funded study identified the terrace of Scarborough's Grand Hotel as a "highly suitable" location to house a series of artificial nesting structures (ANS).

It was one of four sites inspected by an ornithologist as part of ongoing work aimed at managing the impact of the town's kittiwake population.

Members of North Yorkshire Council's Scarborough and Whitby area committee are set to discuss the findings at a meeting on Friday.

Earlier this year the council drafted a new strategy aimed at addressing issues around noise, mess and aggressive behaviour by sea birds in the town - of which kittiwakes are thought to be the "most abundant".

As part if the study, four sites were inspected - Star Map in South Cliff Gardens, the derelict concrete chalets, and the Old Bathing Building.

The report found the Grand Hotel's terrace to be "the most significant" location, describing it as an "almost perfect ecological site" due to its "close proximity to existing nesting colonies and its orientation towards the sea".

It said the hotel's terrace presented a "maximum design opportunity" for an artificial nesting structure with up to 1,050 nesting spaces, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, though said such sites "may only ever be 50 to 60 per cent occupied when fully colonised".

It was also noted that the structures "do not need to be elaborate or expensive" and could be as simple as a series of purpose-made shelving, made from marine ply or other durable wood and supported by a steel structure.

The report added that the installation of ANS in the town "represents an opportunity beyond just re-locating numbers of breeding Kittiwake" and could lead to an approach problems caused by the birds which "considers both the needs of local residents and businesses and the support of wild bird populations".

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