Welsh council sets up special group to manage goats’ feral behaviour

Richard Evans, Local Democracy Reporter

A special council group is being set up to manage the Great Orme’s feral Kashmiri goats – after their rampaging behaviour during the pandemic.

During the height of the pandemic, the goats ventured from the Great Orme and rampaged through Llandudno town centre and beyond Craig y Don.

Despite the goats making international news, some Llandudno residents were unhappy that their gardens were being destroyed by the feral animals.

Cabinet members met this week at Bodlondeb and agreed a councillor working group will be set up to tackle the problem.

Cllr Chris Cater spoke at the meeting and said the council needed to ensure the goats were properly managed.

“Just to emphasise, these are feral goats. They are not owned by anyone. They are on land on the Great Orme, and in fact they were there quite comfortably until the pandemic lockdown,” he said.

“Then they decided to move elsewhere and of course get involved with the gardens of Craig y Don and so on, and they even tried to make it to Penrhyn Bay, but they didn’t quite get down the Little Orme. I was very worried about Batty’s plant nursery at the bottom of the hill, but they didn’t get that far.”

‘Joy to see’

Cllr Cater added: “During the pandemic, they really uplifted the people of Llandudno. They were a joy to see, and they gave us a lot of good publicity, and I think we have to do the right thing for them. I entirely support this initiative.”

Cllr Geoff Stewart is the cabinet member for the environment, roads, and facilities and proposed cabinet members supported the recommendation.

“Goats in Llandudno, much maligned by some, much loved by others,” he said.

“But there has been an issue there for some time. Frankly, we should be very proud to have these wonderful animals on our doorstep. They are nowhere else in the UK, and it has been asked that we set up a group to establish a way forward for these.”

Goat management

Council officers said the group would be a cabinet member working group as part of both a short-term and long-term plan managing the goats.

The group will also consult Natural Resources Wales, the RSPCA, Llandudno Town Council, and interested local members

The cabinet backed the plans and agreed that the group will be set up during the next month or so.