You will be aware that we have, with your help, been opposing plans by
Westminster City Council to secure a byelaw banning the feeding of
birds
anywhere near Trafalgar Square.
We have good news and bad news – and we desperately need you to write
one
more urgent letter or email on the subject.
The good news is that, during the consultation process, the Department
for
Communities and Local Government (the DCLG – the Government department
dealing with Westminster’s application) was so overwhelmed by “many
hundreds” of objections to the proposed byelaw that they have said it
will
now take them weeks to consider them! Westminster Council had been
bragging
about how it was expecting to have a byelaw by 1st February!
The bad news is that defeating this byelaw has become even more vital,
as
last week Mr Justice Lightman, sitting at Central London County Court,
refused to order the Mayor to allow us to resume feeding on Trafalgar
Square
itself.
This brings us onto our latest request for your help. Until now, the
Secretary of State for the DCLG, Ruth Kelly MP, had declined to involve
herself in the byelaw decision. However, as the scale of the
objections
became clear, she indicated in an interview with the Evening Standard
that
she was now taking a personal interest in the issue.
Although the official consultation period has now finished, it is still
worth writing to Ms Kelly. Unlike her officials, she is an elected
politician, and elected politicians always have one eye on public
opinion.
So – please, please contact her today!
If you need to refresh your memory by reading our submission opposing
the
byelaw, it can be found here:
www.savethepigeons.org/ObjectionToByelaw.pdfRuth Kelly’s email address is:
ruth.kelly@communities.gsi.gov.uk
If you prefer to write to her, please do so at:
Rt Hon Ruth Kelly MP
House of Commons
London SW1A 0AA