Fake owls fail to scare seagulls that have halted demolition of former hospital

Two model owls drafted in to speed up a controversial housing development appear to have let their bosses down. The owls were placed on the roof of the former Prestatyn Community Hospital in Denbighshire, Wales, to frighten away seagulls, and they had the right effect initially, but the “squatters” were not taken in for long. The determination of the gulls to stay put has delighted local resident David Morris.



Mr Morris has been campaigning against the proposal by Pure Residential and Commercial to demolish the former hospital and build a mixture of houses and apartments on the site. The company had planned to start demolishing the property, which closed two years ago, on March 23. However, the move was put on hold after it was pointed out that seagulls were nesting in the chimney.

Officials at Natural Resources Wales said the nests could not be disturbed until chicks had flown away. Mr Morris, who, as chairman of the League of Friends has led the fight to try to save the hospital from closure. He said the delay would give him and other objectors time to prepare their arguments against the scheme. Mr Morris said he was disappointed when the developers placed the two dummy owls on the roof earlier this week.



He said: “At first the seagulls panicked but after a while they seemed to realise that the owls were not real, so they came back, which I’m very pleased about. I think it was very petty of Pure to take such a step in the first place.” Goronwy Owen, Pure’s development manager, said: “We were using nature to solve the problem and I’m disappointed to learn that the owls are not working. They have worked on other sites. We want to get on with the demolition as soon as possible and will now have to think of plan B.”