A PEMBROKESHIRE council is trialling a new eco-friendly way of managing overgrown areas, by using goats in a local churchyard.
Narberth Town council said: “Narberth Town Council is continuing its work to enhance the grounds of St Andrew’s Church as part of our ongoing biodiversity and environmental improvement programme.
“To support this, we are trialling a natural and chemical-free method of managing overgrown areas by introducing Bio Goats – an eco-friendly solution for controlling brambles and invasive vegetation. These goats will help clear excess growth around gravestones and across the site, enabling us to implement a longer-term ground management plan.
“The goats are GPS ringfenced to remain within a designated area, and daily welfare checks will be carried out to ensure they are healthy, safe, and well cared for throughout their time on site.
“We kindly ask all visitors to support this initiative by:
- Avoiding the goat-grazing area while they are at work
- Keeping dogs on a lead at all times in the vicinity
- Ensuring children are supervised and kept a safe distance away
“We understand that children may be curious and wish to see the goats. However, we respectfully ask that this is discouraged, as human interaction may disturb the animals and interfere with their natural grazing behaviour.”
The rummaging ruminants themselves come from Clynderwen-based Biogoats 2 Rent, run by Richard and Dawn for the past six seasons, who said the goats were already on-site at St Andrew’s, and are expected to remain there for two to three weeks.
Goats from Biogoats 2 Rent, believed to be the only business of its type in the UK, have already been used to provide an eco-friendly service for Pembrokeshire County Council, the national park, and for other local churches.
“They’re most recognised down at Canaston Bridge,” said Dawn, explaining they were used as a eco-friendly way of clearing natural set aside areas on the Robeston Wathen bypass, and had also been used at Tenby’s St Mary’s church, with plans to return there later this summer.
Rather than using collars, the goats are kept in their designated areas using GPS satellite technology, a process recently shown on Clarkson’s Farm, TV star Jeremy Clarkson’s farming programme.
“I think he stole the idea from us,” joked Richard, adding: “We’re the only company in the UK to do this; we get enquiries from all over the UK, but the travel costs can make it unviable for the customers from further away.”
They finished: “We enjoy what we do and meet some nice people along the way.”
