Sefton Council leader Marion Atkinson has defended the decision to close Churchtown Botanic Gardens aviary, describing aviaries as "unnatural" and "inhumane" environments for birds. The remarks came during a fractious public meeting attended by around 200 people, where tempers flared over the planned closure.
Community Outrage Over Closure
The decision, described as "crazy" by community volunteers, has sparked a fierce backlash. David Cobham, who runs the Botanic Gardens Community Association with his wife Ann, told the ECHO: "This park, and especially the aviary, people go back years and years when they brought their children here, when they came here themselves as children with their grandmas. It's really awful."
An online petition set up by the association has garnered nearly 3,000 signatures, while a paper petition has secured around 5,000 signatures, according to activists collecting signatures in the gardens ahead of the meeting.
Council's Justification
The council stated that the aviary is not keeping up with modern animal welfare standards and that the costs of maintaining its infrastructure are too great. The aviary requires £60,000 a year for day-to-day running costs, and the council is concerned about further capital funding needed to modernise the attraction. The council also noted that it is one of the last councils in the country to manage a facility housing animals, but it has no statutory duty to do so.
Council leader Atkinson said: "The animals are currently held in captivity in cages that are far too small. On average, each bird has the equivalent space to fly of four washing machines stacked two by two. The aviary is an unnatural habitat. Aviaries are a legacy of an era that did not care about birds. None of these animals were put on earth for the pleasure of human beings to look at them. We should not encourage future generations of birds to be confined to those kinds of facilities. It's simply inhumane."
Political Debate and Motion
Liberal Democrat councillor Daniel Lewis submitted a motion to Sefton Council, calling for the £176,000 raised from the sale of a lodge at the edge of the gardens to be allocated towards a Heritage Lottery match-funding bid. Under the scheme, every £1 raised by the community would be matched with an additional £9 from the National Lottery, potentially unlocking up to £5m for the Botanic Gardens.
David Rawsthorne, founder of the Make a Change for Botanic campaign group, previously told the ECHO: "The aviary has been there for 85 years. It's part of the heartbeat of the park. We want to know exactly what's going on with this match funding bid. We just want answers."
At the meeting, Lib Dem councillor Simon Shaw questioned why the council did not carry out a public consultation on the decision. Cabinet member for health and wellbeing Joanne Willias responded that it was an operational decision that went through the budget process, so consultation was not carried out. This drew mutters of "outrageous" and "rubbish" from the public gallery.
Councillor Lewis argued: "The work done by the Botanic Gardens Community Association is often underestimated. People don't know just how much those guys do to keep the jewel of the north of the town alive and going. It is a fantastic asset. This isn't difficult to do. If we want to save the aviary we can save the aviary. It requires a tiny amount of political will, tiny."
Accusations of Smokescreen
Lib Dem councillor Iain Brodie-Browne accused the council of using animal welfare as a "smokescreen", saying: "If it was an animal welfare decision we could have had a report to us about the animal welfare decisions. If we are to rehome them, are we to fly them to Africa? It is nothing other than a smokescreen. You sneaked it in the back door."
Green councillor Neil Doolin noted research suggesting that "if animals have been born into captivity, sudden freedom or change is not the correct approach. Birds - parrots in particular - are as intelligent as five-year-old humans. That is their home and everything they know."
Motion Rejected
In the end, Councillor Lewis's motion was narrowly rejected by 32 votes to 27. He concluded: "You just called the people who work for the aviary animal abusers. It's an animal rescue centre. They are saving birds. We can do the right thing here, but I've given up on the Labour-run Cabinet. The Labour council will not listen to people in Southport."
