Whanganui’s Rotokawau Virginia Lake Aviary again faces closure

Bird numbers at the aviary nearly halved last year. Photo / Bevan Conley

Whanganui’s Rotokawau Virginia Lake Aviary is back on the chopping block as Whanganui District Council wrestles with its next rates increase.

Last year, council officers favoured shutting the facility following a critical report from independent zoologist Dr Lorne Roberts but elected members voted to keep it open and invest in addressing animal welfare standards.

Of the 410 public responses about the aviary to the council’s annual plan for 2023/24, only 38 called for the facility to be closed.

Keeping the aviary meant last year’s average rates increase rose from 7.9 per cent to 8.2 per cent.

If it survives the proposed cut in the council’s upcoming long-term plan (LTP), $190,000 - $10.20 per property - will be added to rates for 2024/25.

The council’s preferred position this time around is to close it for good.

Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe said if it shut, $150,000 would be saved on wages and $40,000 would be saved on operating costs each year.

“That’s a substantial number and we have to find cuts,” he said.

“No one wants to cut services but we can’t say yes to everything. This is one of the tough decisions we have put to our community.

“We need them to help us make a collective decision around getting our rates as affordable as possible.”

Roberts’ report said information provided by aviary staff at the time was “deficient in much of the detail that would be expected in a modern best-practice facility”.

Councillor Michael Law has suggested privatising the facility. Photo / Bevan Conley

During the time the birds were observed, the finches and the cockatoos seemed “unengaged and lethargic” and the galahs appeared to be restricted in movement.

According to the council’s LTP consultation document, improvements to the aviary have been made since then.

They include reducing bird numbers, changing feeding schedules, providing enrichment and improving veterinary services.

Bird numbers at the aviary nearly halved last year - from 178 to 98 - due to natural attrition and rehoming. Pauline Nijman, practice manager at the Companion Animal Hospital at the School of Veterinary Science at Massey University, was brought in to help tackle issues highlighted in Roberts’ report.

Tripe said some council services were for everyone and some were for those with particular interests and the aviary fell into the second category.

“There are people who are particularly passionate about birds and there are people who are particularly passionate about the Whanganui East pool,” he said.

“These are specific areas within our community with a small but vocal number of supporters.

“Somewhere like Kowhai Park has a wider group [of users] and there are libraries as well, which are more used right across the district.”

Closing the Whanganui East pool is the council’s preferred option in the LTP consultation document.

Via Facebook, councillor Michael Law said privatisation was the only way to stop the aviary being considered for closure “again and again”.

He told the Chronicle people were willing and open to the idea and it would lead to sponsorship and donations.

“Public, do you want to set up a trust to run the aviary yourself? Do you want it to run for 10 years and let the birds die off slowly or do you want it to run forever?” he said.

“It would be up to you. I don’t think the council should own it any more.”

Law said he was angry that closing the aviary was being discussed a year after hundreds of people had said: “Do not close, invest”.

“To ignore that and bring it as a preferred option is disgraceful.”

Tripe said the council was keen to listen to new and different ideas.

“If it’s privatising, if it‘s the community stepping up to run things, we are happy to hear everything.

“If we can have the power of the community playing a role in how we deliver services, then bring it on.”

The council is proposing an average 10.6 per cent rates rise for 2024/25 as part of its LTP.

Consultation runs until May 2, followed by hearings on May 14-16.

The plan must be adopted by June 30.

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.