GET OFF THE CARBS, GOOSE!

MAYOR WEIGHS IN ON GREAT DEBATE

GOLD Coast Mayor Tom Tate has weighed in on the great goose debate, calling the beloved Oxenford birds “fat” and temporarily halting their removal.

Councillor Tate yesterday intervened in moves to relocate the birds as councillors explored ways to retain the geese, but he did not hold back in his criticism of the gaggle for over-indulging on bread.

He suggested locals stop feeding them in order to save the council money.

“Bread is bad for them … it can actually kill them so the simple solution is stop feeding them bread,’’ he said.

His comments followed a council department decision to remove 50 of the feral geese from the Coomera River as part of a population control measure.

But in response to severe community backlash, Cr Tate said controlling their diet could solve the issue and he had written to the director of community services to explore an alternative option of an education campaign.

Cr Tate said he would prefer to see money spent on “important things like roads”.

“Bread makes the geese fat, makes them lazy and sees them breed more as they know there is an abundance of food,” he said. “So to save ratepayers’ funds in any relocation, I have a simple solution – get them off the carbs.’’

Residents in Greywillow Blvd said they were told by council officers that the birds had also become a road safety issue.

“They told us the goose poo on the road is making it unsafe for us to brake in our cars,” a resident said. “It’s becoming an absolute joke.”

In a council meeting yesterday, divisional councillor William Owen-Jones successfully moved that council officers investigate to “ensure any healthy desexed birds were retained at the site”.

The original control measure was stopped after a directive from the Mayor.

Cr Owen-Jones gained the support of all councillors including committee chairman Hermann Vorster who remarked that “it’s hardly a featherbrained idea”.

Inside the chamber, Cr Owen-Jones said it was a unique situation to have nonnative birds in a park.

“This is an attempt to try and strike a compromise with the local community who are partial to the geese,” he said.

“But I think they’re very keen to make sure they’re actually a healthy flock. I think they actually appreciate the fact that brother and sister geese should not be mating together over a long period of time.

“So the only way you can avoid that is desexing them.”

The Animal Welfare League Queensland, the RSPCA and a number of Logan schools denied they would be rehoming the birds despite suggestions from council officers that the organisations were willing to take on the gaggle.

“As far as we are aware we have no involvement,” an AWL spokesman said.

I HAVE A SIMPLE SOLUTION – GET THEM OFF THE CARBS.

MAYOR TOM TATE