A GAGGING order has been imposed on Whitehaven councillors to ban them from speaking to the media.
Only Michael Guest, the chair of the new Whitehaven Town Council, is now permitted to talk to the press, and individual councillors are not.
The ban has been imposed following recent comments made by councillor Graham Roberts, who publicly advocated the illegal use of drones to counter problems caused by Whitehaven's seagulls.
Coun Guest says the ban - made in the interim before being rubber-stamped next month - is "for the councillors' own protection".
However, Colin Edgar, the editor of The Whitehaven News, has lodged a written objection to the move, adding that it will "damage relations between councillors and the electorate".
In formally proposing the new policy, Coun Guest said: "Members may speak to the press as individuals, but all comments from the council should be addressed to the chair for a response."
Mr Edgar responded: "It's disappointing that the council is imposing this ban on members. All councillors should be free to speak to the media, if they so wish, and for those members of the public who don't attend meetings, reading the local newspaper is often the only way they can learn about how their councillors are working, campaigning and speaking out for them.
"Councillors can speak with authority on an issue that affects their own patches, and The Whitehaven News enjoys a positive relationship with councillors at parish, borough and county council level - and we had hoped that this would be the case with Whitehaven Town Council."
The 11-member council was formed in May, with councillors representing Bransty, Hensingham, Sandwith, Harbour, Mirehouse, Kells and Hillcrest.
Copeland Council, on which Coun Roberts also sits, has strongly refuted his seagull comments. The council has received a letter from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on the back of Coun Roberts' comments, highlighting a number of humane methods it could take to mitigate the gulls.
They include curtailing food sources and enforcing a strict feeding policy; using reflective paint that deters the birds from swooping; using lasers to evict birds from their roosts or employing anti-roosting products such as bird slides or coils; using scare tactics such as sprinklers, sonic devices, or predator effigies.
Copeland has produced a poster urging the public not to feed the gulls. It can be downloaded at www.copeland.gov.uk or its Facebook page.
Mayor Mike Starkie said: "We realise seagulls, whilst a defining feature of any seaside town, do cause problems. The seagulls are a protected species and therefore it is illegal to remove nests and eggs or to kill these birds.
“We have taken advice from experts in this field, including the RSPB, to help reduce the problems. Everyone can play their part by eliminating the birds’ food source and not feeding the seagulls or drop food outside.
“Spikes, mesh and other low-cost measures can be effective. We continue to survey and monitor breeding pair numbers and hope that, with a combination of the methods above, we can as a community control the problem.”
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