Nestling at the foot of the Brecon Beacons National Park, the beautiful market town of Abergavenny in South Wales is home to many different wild birds including a group of pigeons who perch on the roof of the cinema in Baker Street during the daytime before roosting elsewhere at night.

During the lockdown these birds have been fed and watered by many caring individuals who were concerned for their wellbeing during these unprecedented times.

(Well done Charlotte, Tim, Barry, Barbara, Celia, Lawrence and the many others involved)

At the moment lots of different people now sit on the benches near the cinema and love to see the birds drinking from their water bowl.

However it is believed a complaint has been raised by one of the local businesses (something we will establish via a FOI request to the council if necessary) and the aim seems to be to erroneously show these birds are harmful to humans as a means of destroying them.

These birds do not leave a mess on the pathways and indeed tend to stay on the common land gifted to the people of Abergavenny many years ago - a small monument of a twin town even depicts birds in the stone where they congregate.

Section WML-GL36 (exemption of the 1981 Wildlife Act) expires 31/07/2020 so they should be safe but we fear dishonest applications may be made to the council to have them killed.

The concern is the council will the use that excuse to cull these birds and we would like to raise an objection to this and would seek another solution to move them elsewhere outside the town for their safety, something we may be able to achieve.

We are a nation of animal lovers who do not propose boycotting local businesses or challenging our elected officials at forthcoming ballots; no one wants to think of economic harm coming to individuals over this but these birds have a right to be left alone so moving them seems to be in everyone's best interests.

The destruction of these birds would be cruel and unnecessary and if you feel you would like to add your name to our petition and perhaps ask other likeminded people to do the same please let them know.

We can work together with Abergavenny Town Council to solve this issue and keep everybody happy and this petition should go some way to achieving that.

We have now discovered that the council now intends to debate this matter using false information without any representation from the caring individuals who care for these animals.