‘Don’t take council for bunnies’

THE council is looking to save $117,000 a year by halting funding for a rabbit proof fence that stops short of Gold Coast City boundaries.

The 555km fence runs from Goombi, between Roma and Toowoomba, to Mt Gipps, near the state border in Lamington National Park.

Gold Coast City Council contributions make up seven per cent of the budget of the Darling Downs Moreton Rabbit Board.

The city will vote on Tuesday on whether to write to the State Government seeking to halt the annual payment.

Mudgeeraba councillor Glenn Tozer is a member of the rabbit board and supports the move.

“I don’t think there is a strong case in that we benefit in any way,” he said.

“We don’t have the same rabbit impacts as councils further west of us.”

The higher population density on the Gold Coast offers protection from rabbits.

Rabbit board chairwoman Anne Glasheen said it would be “very disappointing” if the Gold Coast pulled out of the scheme.

“The board is a very small organisation and any council withdrawing from the board area will adversely impact on our capacity to continue to fund our operations,” she said.

Ms Glasheen said the Gold Coast’s contribution was lower than other councils because of the lower risk of rabbits in the area.

“If the fence was not there and maintained, rabbit populations in the Gold Coast Hinterland would be higher as rabbits would be free to migrate to the Coast from the west,” she said.

“There are a large number of equine properties in the Gold Coast Hinterland that would be adversely affected if rabbits established in the area.”

Horses can break their legs by stepping in rabbit burrows.

It is estimated for every six rabbits on the southern side of the fence, there is just one to the north.