Did you speak to a member of staff about your concerns Bandit? As I understand thecsituation the stand is inspected regularly by East Sussex County Council and the club has to abide by the results of the inspections. Can someone from the club comment on this please.
-- Edited by FatherXmas on Thursday 7th of March 2013 11:48:30 AM
The other week I went to see the home match against Thurrock and sat in the main stand and was overwhelmed by a very strong smell of pigeons poo.
When I looked up there was all this netting there full up with Pigeons droppings,and a powdery form of this was filtering through and being breathed in by unsuspecting supporters below.(Have a look for yourself next time you are in there).
I know the netting was originally put up to stop the birds getting up into the roof space,but it has all started to come away and something needs to be done about it.
There is a disease that can be caught from birds droppings called Psittacosis which can be fatal.
I for one will not be sitting up there until the problem is sorted, as along with the Potentially dangerous Asbestos roof that gives off dust particles everytime a ball hits the roof is a very serious situation.
Personal musings here as have nothing to do with what the club do, but have a little knowledge of this field....
Although unpleasant, dried pigeon droppings at the level witnessed in the stand roof ( I last looked intently a couple of weeks ago ) IMO would only provide a substancial risk to health ( actually from Ornithosis, not Psittacosis as that is the version caught from parrott droppings ) if people were in contact every day for a number of hours with the dust partcles at closer quarters. The amount present and position of it is likely to be within safe limits hence the fact they obviously passed the H&S inspections which are generally very thorough.
Being involved in the Pest & Avian Control industry in London myself as part of my own companys range of services( www.tradition-pest-control-london.co.uk ) I am not actually very surprised that it has currently passed the regular H&S inspection's at this time.
However I respect Bandits view and decision not to sit there as these things can often be argued either way in terms of risk and agree in general that it would be ideal longterm if it was gone.
Of course future inspections will look for issues like that as the situation changes over time and sure the club will act as directed and will of course ask them if they have any plans to deal with the situation before then.
From a purely personal point of view I wouldnt currently be worried about about sitting in the stand because of the pigeon guano myself but almost always stand behind goals anyway.
Health hazard behind the goals - Dan, any advice on the dangers of, and how we can get rid of, the horrible smell emulating from a group of supporters behind the goal. Led by Windy, a group involving the likes of Frenchy, Joe and Rimmer cause 90minutes of pain and distress for a number of supporters. Burger, chips, booze, sweat and general bad breath in such high doses are surely a danger to the supporters and i just woundered if the netting used to keep the pigeons out could be used on these guys as well. Just a thought.
Lovely, a fan posts a genuine concern about a health risk to supporters and people take the piss. I dunno why anyone bothers. I for one think the main stand is pretty revolting too. It just needs a clean up. But now you gonna tell me I should go and clean it. That's the typical Hastings United response these days.
I understand that plans are in place and meetings have been arranged to sort this out with solutions and quotes being sought, I don't believe John was taking the Piss out of the original poster but just making light of the situation.
By the way I did spend 3 hours with my brother washing down the front of all the seats before the Harrogate replay and will gladly help the cleaning of the rest if required. So no, no-ones going to tell you to clean it up but if you fancy helping if there is a next time then I would be great-full as it was tough!
Hopefully you won't have you worry about that though and it will be sorted.
I see what you did there. your saying your not askin me to come and doit myself but then asking me to come and do it myself?? aren't you the supporters club chairman?
Yes, getting it ready to go committee based for next season and running the Brighton marathon now to raise funds for the Supporters Club, Season ticket holder too, and fully believe supporters can get involved in helping too ( and many do regularly in several ways ) it's not always just a financial transaction between the fans and the club. At our level fans can do a lot of good when involved, no point having a them and us situation.
By the way where did I ask? I just said if you felt like it then help is always appreciated, many hands make light work!
Like I say in the above post I talked to the chairman as soon as the original poster made his ( completely valid ) point about the dirtiness of the stand and has been escalated to the point if getting quotes etc. It will be sorted ASAP I'm sure.
Thanks very much for your support Jez1066 much appreciated.
I Know it is very annoying when people like Johnw take the piss, yet when he posts something on here he expects everyone to listen to him and take him seriously!
I would however like to thank Dan very much though as he has been very helpful in trying to sort things out.
I know a local company has been to site and quoted but the underlying issue is the long term existence of the pigeons at the ground and the methods for ensuring their permenent removal
I'm looking into the feasibility of a bird of prey to be flown around the ground to scare them off, hopefully I should be able to find someone soon. It's another avenue that's being explored.
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