Last-gasp bid to save aviary
Friends of Aviary group proposes community option
Alast-minute rescue bid has been launched to save the aviary at Rotokawau Virginia Lake in Whanganui. The Whanganui District Council voted to close and decommission the aviary and rehome the birds as part of cost cuts for its Long-Term Plan (LTP).
Councillors received a petition from the community group Friends of the Aviary on Tuesday and heard an outline of its plan to develop a community-led takeover of the aviary.
Aviary advocates Karen Matthews and Grant Rogerson told councillors the Whanganui aviary was one of only a handful of open, walk-through aviaries in the country and a place where families could enjoy a safe, free and educational environment.
Matthews, who is studying for formal bird health qualifications, said she had no concerns for the birds’ welfare.
“Not one of these birds is exhibiting illness or stress,” she said.
Two petitions signed by more than 2500 people were presented to the council but only one was eligible to be received, council officials said.
The petitions asked the council to suspend its decision to close the aviary.
Rogerson said Friends of the Aviary was asking for time to prepare a proposal and business case showing how the community could take over and run the aviary without council funding.
The group would seek private and charity funding to operate the facility and had already received many offers of support from potential individual donors, he said.
Mayor Andrew Tripe welcomed the deputation and said councillors had made tough decisions to keep rates as low as possible over the next 10 years.
“The old saying goes ‘you can’t please everyone’ and indeed we haven’t. We have had to make the toughest decisions we have seen in a generation.
“[The aviary decision] was perhaps the hardest decision of all. There were strong views and valid reasons to keep the aviary open just as there were strong counter views to see it closed.”
Tripe said the decision to close the aviary was marginal, matching the
views of the community.
Council chief executive David Langford said nothing would happen at the aviary until at least July 16, when the LTP would be formally adopted. The first step would be to prepare a rehoming plan to set criteria for potential new homes.
He said developing a communityled plan to keep the aviary open could be achieved under the existing resolution for the council to close and decommission the aviary.
“The council can close the aviary then potentially work through a process of handing over to the community group, and they can reopen. The council could then rehome the birds to the community group.”
Langford said the birds’ welfare was an immediate concern a year ago but those issues appeared to have been resolved, with the birds apparently in much better condition now.
The proposal to close the aviary had been put forward in the LTP because of the cost of funding it appropriately in the future.
“Not doing right by the welfare of the birds was not an ethical option,” Langford told councillors.
“So long as the community group can look after the welfare of the birds and the council doesn’t need to fund it, then we’ve achieved the original outcome that you were seeking which is to lower the cost burden on ratepayers.”
Langford said Friends of the Aviary appeared to have the “right qualifications” to care for the birds and he would be happy to work with it on a plan.
If councillors were not satisfied that the plan was credible or sustainable, the council could default back to closure, he said.
Tripe said the decision to close the aviary was made because of once-ina-generation cost pressures on the council.
“It is very real for us. We need to see that a community group could take this over with a sustainable model so that we can hand over our asset in a responsible way.”
The community would need to demonstrate that bird welfare could be guaranteed.
“If you can come back to us with a strong case, we’re open to that,” Tripe said.
“We need to move quickly.” Rogerson said forming a trust and writing a business case would take less than three months but the group would move as quickly as possible.