Wildfowl contest winners
Six children have won a contest to design new signs for Verulamium Park in St Albans urging people not to feed the wildfowl.
Their creations will now be placed in and around the park’s lakes to educate visitors about the consequences of feeding the birds.
It can cause overcrowding, discourage migration and lower water quality. It can also make the birds unhealthy.
A school poster competition to highlight the issue attracted 354 entries from around the District.
The winners were: Lily Crocker, Redbourn Infant and Nursery School, Kieran Barrett, Tom Vick, Thomas Kelway, Esme Hall and Tomas Roffe, all at Bernards Heath Infant and Nursery School, St Albans.
The winners received a special poster of their design and a toy shop voucher.
Each of the signs has the slogan “Keep Our Wildfowl Wild” along with a drawing and the reasons for not feeding. They will be installed this week.
On Saturday 28 November a member of the Parks Team and the Park Ranger will hand out leaflets about feeding and answer questions from visitors.
Councillor Daniel Chichester-Miles, Portfolio Holder for the Environment for St Albans City and District Council, said: “We are delighted that the competition attracted so many entries and thank all those who participated.
“It’s been a fun way to get an important message across and we now have some very striking signs.
“We appreciate that feeding birds is a natural thing to do and people mean no harm by it.
“However, it is causing problems at the park. These signs let people know the reasons for that and will discourage feeding.”
For more information about Verulamium Park, please see: https://www.enjoystalbans.com/listing/verulamium-park/
Cllr Daniel Chichester-Miles, Portfolio Holder for the Environment, St Albans City and District Council
Tel: 07427-641383 Email: Cllr.D.Chichester-Miles@stalbans.gov.uk
Contact for the media:
John McJannet, Principal Communications Officer, St Albans City District Council
Tel: 01727 296130
E-mail: john.mcjannet@stalbans.gov.uk
ABOVE: Wildfowl poster contest winners from Bernards Heath Infant School