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How the Bonnie Banks are being blighted by toxic seagull droppings

By Craig McDonald

LOCH LOMOND is facing a major pollution threat as gulls feasting on rubbish left by tourists deposit record levels of droppings into the fresh water at the national park.

Locals say the birds are gorging on items left at Luss, with their effluent then tainting the loch.

The latest Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) bathing water classification shows Luss Bay was only assessed as ‘sufficient’ and a steering group has been set up to examine the issue.

Patrick Colquhoun, assistant chief executive of Luss Estates, a member of the Luss bathing waters stakeholder group set up with SEPA, said: ‘A red flag has been raised associated with the birds and a pipe which acts as a drain from a car park.

‘The pipe has been identified as carrying elevated levels of contaminates, mainly from gulls.

‘If there is lots of litter at this car park, the gulls are coming in, having a feast, and the effluent is going into the drains and washing into the bay.

‘The bathing water data has been rated as “sufficient”, essentially a codeword for “watch out”. It’s a first warning sign that we need to find out what is happening.

‘There is an easy fix to this problem and the answer is better litter management and gull-proof bins.’

Mr Colquhoun, whose family have owned the Luss estate for 600 years, added: ‘We have a problem almost unique in Scotland, in that a tiny Victorian village has a million visitors a year.

‘The pressure of this mass tourism is overwhelming what basic infrastructure there is. Bins are full by Saturday morning, not emptied until Monday. Gulls fly in, pick out rubbish and we are seeing the problem in Luss Bay as a result. Not enough attention is given to litter management by the local authority. We play an active role in trying to help and have put in additional bins around the village and built a new car park to accommodate additional vehicles, and it has a warden to monitor litter.’

A spokesman for Argyll and Bute Council said: ‘Our public bins are emptied regularly and we encourage people to play their part by taking litter home if the bins are full, and using recycling facilities.’

A SEPA spokesman said: ‘Gulls influence water quality, and measures to reduce food waste will help to protect water quality. We support actions to improve the cleanliness of our bathing waters, such as taking home litter and avoiding feeding gulls.’

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2022-12-04T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-12-04T08:00:00.0000000Z

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