COUNCILLORS have been reassured that gulls aren’t likely to nest on solar panels on the roof of a city car park.

Worcester City Council’s planning committee were discussing plans to increase the number of panels on the top deck of St Martin’s Gate multi-storey car park.

The proposals were approved, with Cllr Pat Agar calling the decision a “no brainer”.

But concerns were raised in the meeting, which took place in the Guildhall on Thursday (September 19) that gulls could nest on the solar panels.

Cllr Jenny Barnes asked: “Do the existing solar panels have this issue? Will increasing the number of panels attract gulls to nest in the area?”

Planning officer Charlotte Atkins said it wasn’t an issue she was aware of.

Cllr John Rudge said he didn’t think gulls would nest on sloping panels and planning committee chair Karen Lewing said the birds prefer to nest near the corner of a wall or chimney.

She said the roof of the car park is also busy and this would put seagulls off from nesting in the area.

Planning officers say the additional panels would result in the loss of 40 spaces, but the spaces left underneath the panels would be wider and more suitable for larger vehicles.

They also say that as the car park is only full at peak times such as during the Victorian Christmas Market and in the run-up to Christmas, the loss of 40 spaces would not contribute to highway safety or congestion problems.

Even though the solar panel plan now has planning approval, it still requires sign-off from the council’s policy and resources committee before it can go ahead.

Rising costs had threatened to put the scheme on hold as fresh estimates revealed the work would cost about £140,000 more than first thought - and would generate only a 0.5 percent return on investment, compared to the 2.5 percent initially predicted.

Policy and resources committee members delayed making a decision at their last meeting after asking for more information about alternative, cheaper plans.