Big blow-up delay

By Tania Martin
YARRA Ranges Shire has deferred its controversial electronic bird scaring device local law, calling for more research into the impact on wildlife.
The council at a meeting last Tuesday (23 February) unanimously agreed more time was needed.
The electronic bird scaring law has been more than three years in the making and if approved would restrict farmers using devices within 300 metres of a residential property.
But environmentalists are concerned there was not enough information around the impacts these devices would have on local wildlife.
Wandin resident and bed and breakfast operator, Bob O’Neill said the law was long overdue. He said the devices had a massive impact on residents’ amenity and caused sleep deprivation.
Mr O’Neill said the cherry picking season ran for six to seven weeks of the year and throughout that time, the electronic devices ran seven days a week from early morning until evening.
He said they sounded every six to seven minutes, for eight to nine second intervals.
Mount Evelyn Environment Protection and Progress Association president Franc Smith said more time was needed to assess the impact the devices would have on wildlife.
He also raised concerns over the association’s two-year-old submission being left out of the officer’s report which was presented to the council.
He said unlike most other pollution, noise did not stop at the boundary fence. Mr Smith has questioned whether noise issues could ever really be addressed satisfactorily.
Cherry farmer John Caccaviello said his farm was zoned rural, it was his legal right to farm and the introduction of the law would have a massive impact on his ability to do so.
Mr Caccaviello said if the law was approved and barriers of 300 metres were put in place, he wouldn’t be able to protect any of his crops within that buffer zone.
Mr Caccaviello called for a deferral as the EPA was currently in the middle of drawing up new guidelines on noise pollution and more consultation was needed.
“This process was done over the fruit picking season and a lot of famers didn’t do any submissions to this,” he said.
Lyster Ward’s councillor Samantha Dunn moved a motion to defer the decision, saying more information was needed on the impacts.