That is the goal for the rooftop at Countdown Oamaru after two years of problem-level numbers of red-billed gulls nesting atop the supermarket, Woolworths New Zealand head of procurement and facilities Glenn Flavell, of Auckland, says.
Mr Flavell and Woolworths New Zealand regional maintenance manager Iain Widlof, of Wellington, were both decked out in hazardous materials suits cleaning the rooftop this week.
After a high of an estimated 900 red-billed gulls flocked to the store in October, now about 600 birds and 90 nests remained, Mr Widlof said.
Red-billed gulls are protected under the Wildlife Act, but after the Department of Conservation issued Countdown an authority under the Wildlife Act to allow the business to take measures to disturb or prevent birds from nesting on the building, the store and property managers installed a ''bird of prey'' sonic deterrent and a laser, which moves in a random pattern, to discombobulate the birds.
''We want them gone,'' Mr Flavell said.
The situation in Oamaru was ''absolutely'' unique among Woolworths supermarkets all around the country, he said.
''We have issues ... but not to this extent.''
The birds' breeding season was due to end in January - once all the chicks had fledged the rooftop would get a ''more aggressive clean'' and wires would be strung across the roof to discourage birds from landing.
Countdown Oamaru store manager Mandy Manpreet said having the protected birds using the store's rooftop as a breeding ground was ''in some ways'' stressful for her and her staff.
Red-billed gull numbers have declined more than 50% since 1994, and there are fewer than 100,000 of the birds left in New Zealand.
