Views sought on shire corella plan

West Wimmera Shire Council is asking people in the municipality to have their say on corella management in the region.

The call comes after the council received a draft West Wimmera Shire Council Corella Management Plan 2020-2024 at its June meeting.

The plan outlines a range of options for corella management in the shire and will be on public display for four weeks.

Shire residents can make submissions to the council about the plan.

Planning and environment manager David Pietsch said West Wimmera Shire had experienced problems with large numbers of corellas in the past.

“In significant numbers, corellas cause damage to trees, create noise issues and can potentially damage buildings and infrastructure,” he said.

Mr Pietsch said community opinions about corellas varied, with some residents seeing the birds’ migration as a natural phenomenon that people needed to accept.

“Other residents in the shire consider these birds a menace,” he said.

The corella-management plan outlines five different management strategies available to the council.

These include culling birds, dispersing birds, public education, asset-design solutions, and advocacy and partnership.

“It is understood that no single management strategy alone will prove effective,” Mr Pietsch said.

“Different techniques need to be used in different locations and at varying times.”

Culling and dispersing birds will involve shooting live ammunition, along with using hand-held lasers and flares, stock whips, clapping boards, and gas scare guns.

A public education strategy will involve distributing more information to residents about corellas and how to live with them.

An asset-design solutions strategy will involve looking at the design and maintenance of council infrastructure in view of limiting the destruction that corellas cause.

This might include changing the colour of synthetic turf or using polyethylene pipe to prevent birds perching on aerials and communication cables.

The final strategy, advocacy and partnership, will involve sharing corella-management ideas with other councils and asking the State Government for a regional response to the birds.

Mr Pietsch said residents needed to make submissions to the council before 5pm on July 24.

Written submissions must be addressed to David Pietsch, PO Box 201, Edenhope, Victoria, 3318, or emailed to council@westwimmera.vic. gov.au.

The plan will be available for inspection on the council’s website, www.westwimmera.vic. gov.au and at customer service centres in Baker Street, Kaniva, and Elizabeth Street, Edenhope.

All submissions will go before the council, which will make a decision on the management plan in August.

“It is understood that no single management strategy alone will prove effective. Different techniques need to be used in different locations and at varying times” – David Pietsch