Residents are campaigning to save two geese after the parish council tried to remove them from a village pond.
Many people in Stillington, between York and Easingwold, want their geese to stay – and more than 2,100 people have signed a petition to keep them.
It comes after the parish council decided to oust the pair, a Chinese goose and a white goose, over road safety fears.
They said their location is next to a busy road and there are worries the birds could cause a collision.
The parish council said they have the power to remove the geese under the Wildlife Countryside Act. It also claims it is effectively owners of both birds as they live on council land.
Since its decision earlier in the summer, many residents set about saving the geese. They launched the petition with the words: “The white goose has lived here peacefully for at least two years, sharing the pond with both duck families and moorhens.
“It was a sad time when she initially lost her gander but she is quite happily settled with a new man, the Chinese Goose, and they are a bonded pair.”
One Stillington resident told YorkMix: “The majority of the village want to keep the geese, and the parish council quietly made the decision to remove the geese without consultation.”
Campaigners have challenged the council’s belief that it legally owns the birds and has the right to remove them.
They also don’t believe there is a road safety hazard, even though the busy Stillington High Street runs next to the pond.
The issue was discussed at a meeting of the parish council on 3 September.
Here, residents put forward solutions to save the geese. These included new road signs warning drivers of the geese.
One resident said she would sign a document saying she was the legal owner of the birds and be liable for their behaviour.
Villagers also offered to form a group to take responsibility for the geese and their upkeep.
One villager told the meeting: “It is a village pond, a place to take the grandchildren. Ponds have geese, and the village is richer for having both.
“Leave the geese to stay and enjoy their lives while enriching all of ours.”
The parish council have dismissed suggestions that they didn’t communicate plans with villagers.
During the meeting, one councillor said that an agenda posted on the noticeboard and website on 22 June contained an item about “the future of the geese on the pond with regards to road safety”.
Chairman of Stillington Parish Council Richard Smyth told the September meeting: “We were so shocked at a near accident that we genuinely believe there is a danger.”
The parish council hasn’t yet confirmed whether the decision to remove the geese will go forward.
It has agreed to consider drafting and circulating a new ‘pond policy’. That will be discussed at a future meeting.
So for the time being, the Stillington geese are safe.
