It was a bizarre event that gripped South Wales: how one nesting seagull could stop the opening of a £350,000 water attraction in Aberavon, Neath Port Talbot. The aptly-named Aberavon Aqua Splash, an inclusive aquatic play area next to Aberavon Beach, was due to open in time for the May half term - but after council officers found a seagull nesting on top of one of the water features, the Aqua Park was forced to remain closed.
As UK law protects seagulls, formally known as Herring gulls, the park had to remain closed until the seagulls' eggs hatched or the nesting seagull moved on. Neath Port Talbot Council explained that opening the park would "amount to disturbance" under the law and confirmed it would have been illegal to open the Aqua Park while the nest was there - or to disrupt or move the nest in any way.
The council later admitted that the days were numbered for the nesting gull as the gull's nest was located beneath a water bucket which, when full, would automatically tip over. People across Neath Port Talbot were left divided on whether action should be done to protect the seagull, or whether more should be done to ensure the aqua park could open promptly. You can read what people had to say in a previous article here.
