Aviary closure about bird welfare, leader says

The decision to earmark an aviary for closure after nearly 90 years was taken because such enclosures are "unnatural" and "inhumane", a council leader has said.

Sefton Council decided the attraction in the Botanic Gardens in Churchtown, Southport will shut in March 2027.

Council leader Marion Atkinson told a meeting of the Labour-led authority, which was attended by about 200 people, that the decision was "all about the welfare of the birds", adding: "Aviaries are a legacy of an era that did not care about birds."

David Cobham, who runs the Botanic Gardens Community Association of volunteers, said the decision was "crazy".

The council said the aviary had not kept up with modern animal welfare standards expected for birds in its care and the costs associated with maintaining its infrastructure were too great.

About £60,000 a year is needed for day-to-day running costs and the council said it was concerned further funding was needed to modernise the attraction.

A motion put forward by Liberal Democrat councillor Daniel Lewis in favour of keeping the aviary open noted that the Botanic Gardens Community Association was bidding for Heritage Lottery match-funding for up to £5m.

He said the aviary was "a fantastic asset" and he had "been going there since I was a kid, since I was a toddler".

He said the match-funding was an "incredible opportunity", adding: "If we want to save the aviary we can save the aviary. It requires a tiny amount of political will."

However, Atkinson said the decision was "not about money" and was "all about the welfare of the birds".

"The animals are currently held in captivity in cages that are far too small," the Labour councillor said.

"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.

"Sometimes nostalgia gets the best of us and we forget what the right thing is."

Some of her comments were greeted by shouts of "load of rubbish" from the public gallery.

Liberal Democrat councillor Iain Brodie-Browne said 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?" he said.

"It is nothing other than a smokescreen."

Green councillor Neil Doolin said he had read research suggesting that "sudden freedom or change" was not the "correct approach" for animals born in captivity.

"Birds – parrots in particular – are as intelligent as five-year-old humans," he said.

"That is their home and everything they know."

Lewis's motion was rejected by 32 votes to 27.

Speaking outside the meeting, Cobham said the aviary had a special place in the memories of local people.

"People go back years and years [to] when they brought their children here, when they came here themselves as children with their grandmas," he said.

"It's really awful."

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