By Casey Neill
A SENIOR public servant is asking people to stop feeding birds at Grants picnic ground, a popular tourist attraction in Kallista.
This follows calls for action from locals and the Shire of Yarra Ranges over sulphur-crested cockatoos causing widespread damage to property in the hills community.
And one councillor has called for an urgent meeting of MPs, councillors and other officials to discuss the problem.
Parks Victoria signed a 20-year lease in 1999 with the picnic ground operator that allows “controlled bird feeling”.
But Ian Temby, a Department of Sustainability and Environment Wildlife Management project leader, says the practice – Grants is the only place in the Dandenong Ranges National Park where Parks Victoria permits feeding – must be stopped.
“In the wild, cockatoos spend much of their time looking for food and feeding gradually over the day,” he said.
“If they are given all their food requirements at once they are left with a great deal of idle time.”
Mr Temby said the birds alleviated boredom by chewing on soft wood, including window frames and verandah.
But his boss, Environment Minister Gavin Jennings, told a concerned resident “controlled bird feeding” was approved under the lease.
The kiosk sells an approved seed mix in 50-gram bags “to ensure the impacts to the structural and natural environment are minimised”, Mr Jennings said.
The operators of Grants were approached for comment but had not responded by printing time.
Councillors this month called on the State Government to do something about the increasing damage caused by the birds.
The demands for action echo calls from concerned residents facing repair bills topping thousands of dollars. All blame the feeding practices for the growing problem.
Lyster Ward councillor Samantha Dunn at the shire’s 16 June meeting requested an urgent meeting to discuss cockatoo management.
“We have tried education and it has worked to a degree but there is only so far you can go with that,” Cr Dunn said.
It was the State Government’s responsibility to take action and ban feeding, she said.
“It’s the State Government that allows them to be fed at Grants on Sherbrooke but it’s all of us who live around the area who have to suffer the consequences,” she said.
Kallista Community House’s John Lloyd has lived in the town for 40 years and has “never seen anything like this”.
Mr Lloyd said the main street’s historic oaks had been a recent target, placing their future in danger.
“And what’s happening in the forest?” he asked.
Another resident, Anne Kapoulitsa, resorted to nailing fly screen to her verandah railing to keep the birds at bay. She now faces a $1000 repair bill but is concerned the birds will strike again.
“They’ve never bothered us before,” she said. “This year we’re terrified we’d come back from a holiday and find our whole verandah collapsed.”
Kallista Uniting Church’s Michael Brogden said the struggling church had coughed up a $500 insurance excess to repair the 75-year-old building.
Mr Brodgen said cockatoos had “shredded to pieces” posts, steps, handrails and window frames.
He said he had never seen anything like it in his 20 years with the church.
