PROTESTERS are urging residents to take part in a two-hour boycott of Tesco in North Berwick tomorrow (Friday) against the continued use of anti-bird netting in the store's external roof space above the customer exit area.
On Monday, supermarket representatives met in a virtual meeting with community activists, representatives of the Scottish Seabird Centre and East Lothian MSP Paul McLennan, to outline alternatives to the existing netting, which was installed to discourage birds from nesting there.
However, with no sign of a change of heart from Tesco, protesters are encouraging people around the town to boycott the North Berwick store.
Carole Fairhurst, who started the original petition and helped organise the protest, said that the boycott was the only option after Tesco failed to respond to the public outcry.
She said: “Tesco had assured us that they would look into alternatives, despite us wanting in the short term to have the netting removed, and they would come back on Wednesday, which was yesterday, with suggestions.
“They failed to do so, they failed to engage with anyone who has tried to contact them, and so now the boycott is our next step.
“The petition now has nearly 30,000 signatures, so there is a lot of support out there, obviously not all in North Berwick, but that just shows the strength of feeling that nature is being deprived on a daily basis on somewhere to live.”
READ MORE: Watch as protesters flock to Tesco in North Berwick
The nets were put up originally by Tesco as a hygiene measure to protect customers from bird droppings, but in doing so the supermarket removed and blocked off many house martin nests.
The red-listed migratory bird returns to the same nest each year, meaning Tesco’s preventative netting could be harmful to the future of the species.
Images sent to the Courier have shown that birds have already become trapped in the supermarket’s netting, causing great trepidation over the house martins’ imminent return.
Angela Paterson, spokesperson for the campaign group, said: “It will just take one bird to die in those nets and they will be breaking the law and they will have complete community uproar on their hands.”
RSPB Scotland also shared its concern about Tesco's actions at the North Berwick store on social media.
1/2. We're deeply concerned by @Tesco's use of netting to prevent birds nesting at their North Berwick store. We cannot keep trying to squeeze nature into smaller and smaller spaces or demanding it fits in with our plans. pic.twitter.com/ieD5RprHcv
— RSPB Scotland (@RSPBScotland) March 23, 2022
Paul McLennan, MSP for East Lothian, who had organised the original meeting to discuss alternatives, was hopeful that a solution can be found.
He said: “Having heard of the community's concerns about the bird netting being installed by Tesco, I brought together Tesco with community activists and representatives from the Seabird Centre last week to discuss possible solutions that took into account everyone’s concerns.
"While we didn’t reach a conclusion during the meeting, we have kept up a dialogue and are hopeful of a positive outcome.”
The boycott will take place tomorrow (Friday) at the Tesco superstore in North Berwick, between 3pm and 5pm.
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