PIGEONS have been flocking to Rosewood in worrying numbers according to resident, David Pahlke.

“They’ve been roosting in large numbers around local homes and buildings,” he said.

David said he first raised concerns about the winged pests to the Ipswich City Council in April.

At the time, he was still the owner of the Rosewood Hotel and had spent $1,000 trying to alleviate the problem around his building.

“The pigeons had made their way into the ceiling of the structure and it was becoming a real issue,” he said.

“I came in contact with a pigeon expert who said that they were attracted to the hotel because of its height and because of the viewing point of the building.

“The method that I invested the money into worked for about a month and I thought great, but then all of a sudden they returned and the issues started all over again.”

He then contacted the Council as he realised that the hotel was not the only place where pigeons were nesting – there were many homes and buildings with the same issue.

“I noticed them everywhere, at my own home and in particular under the solar panels on resident’s homes and at the Rosewood Library,” he said.

“In the bygone days you would simply poison them, or shoot them with a slug gun, but you cannot do that these days.

“The response from Council was that in Queensland, there is no specific government entity that is legislatively responsible for the control of pigeons and property owners have a general responsibility to control them.

“Providing pigeon control to the community is currently outside of council’s [jurisdiction] and property owners who are being impacted by pigeons are encouraged to contact a private pest controller to discuss their options.

“I understand this, but as I have already spent the money and engaged a pigeon expert and still the pigeons came back.

“Now I am left to wonder, what on earth do we do, and how many other residents have this problem?”