City’s birds will return

THE much- loved caged birds of Queens Gardens are set to return with the development of a new $ 500,000 aviary and rose garden.

Townsville City Council this week accepted an officer’s recommendation to demolish the existing aviary and develop a new one in the location of the rose garden and to create a new rose garden in the current location of the aviary.

The decision follows the controversial removal of the birds last year without consultation with residents who had been told there was no plan to take them away.

According to a council summary, a Queens Gardens Aviary Report, which was not immediately available, found the facility was more than 50 years old and did not meet acceptable building standards or the requirements for the housing of birds.

The aviary had peacocks, lorikeets, ducks, chickens, corellas, galahs, finches and cockatoos but the birds suddenly vanished last year.

Resident Louise Floyd said she had visited the birds virtually every day for 10 years and that many people, both locally and from out of town, looked forward to their return. PALM Island’s Guinness World Record breaking Aboriginal dance was a historic day for those connected to the community. Former Townsville comedian Sean Choolburra ( pictured) was one of more than 250 participants and said he hoped to remember the dance for the rest of his life. “It’s setting history, you know, a hundred years of community. It’s out with the old really negative past and in with the new, setting a brand new world record,” he said. Read more about Palm Island’s path to a Guinness World Record in the Townsville Eye tomorrow.

For many people the birds were like pets and they all had names, she said.

“There’s a lot of support for those birds to come back,” Ms Floyd said. “Most people that live in the area are still quite saddened by the removal of the birds, particularly without consultation. They are part of the fabric of Townsville.”

Consultant LCJ Engineers found that repairing the aviary was not economically sustainable and that it was in the best interests of the council to demolish it and redevelop a new aviary.

The engineers estimated the cost to demolish the existing aviary and replace with a similar aviary would cost about $ 500,000. Mayor Jenny Hill told the meeting the local ward councillor had fielded many calls from residents about the aviary.

“Within the next 12 months we’ll see the birds returning to Queens Gardens as well as the creation of a beautiful ( aviary) where the rose garden is,” Cr Hill said. An area more suitable for weddings and functions would also be created.

Ms Floyd recently visited the cockatoos which were now being held safely in a private location but other birds had been sent to other sites.

“Any decision to bring them back quickly would be very good,” Ms Floyd said. “My hope would be to bring them back as soon as possible.”