Councillor wants review of Whanganui council's bird ban

Denise Alsop has been told her budgie has to go. Photo / Lewis Gardner

Whanganui District Councillor Josh Chandulal-Mackay is pushing for a deeper look at how and why council housing residents have been ordered to get rid of their pet birds.

It comes after tenant and budgie owner Denise Alsop contacted mayor Hamish McDouall regarding rumours of birds being included in the property's no pets policy.

McDouall confirmed birds were not allowed and that there had been complaints from other residents.

Council has given tenants until May 9 to get rid of their pets or they'll be subject to a 90-day notice to terminate their tenancies.

But Chandulal-Mackay said he was concerned by the move.

"I would like to get a sense of history and rationale behind the policy as the wellbeing of our tenants has to be the priority," he said.

Cr Josh Chandulal-Mackay is concerned by the policy. Photo / Bevan Conley

The councillor said the policy has not been actively discussed by elected members since he joined council in 2016.

Some social media users have called the move ridiculous after the Chronicle published a news item highlighting the issue.

Chandulal-Mackay said he was heartened by the reaction because it showed people care about the district's elderly residents.

"Social media is an effective tool to gauge the opinions of our community and in this case it's been fairly decisive."

Cr Chandulal-Mackay has contacted councillor Helen Craig, who chairs the council's Property and Community Service Committee, the chief executive and its property manager to ensure the policy is reviewed.

"I would like to see a policy that enables officers to use their discretion to ensure residents can keep pets where appropriate," he said.

"We also need to acknowledge that the comfort of all residents must be considered and therefore a policy is still required but a one size fits all approach is not appropriate.

"It's important that any revision of the policy is made with a full understanding of the issues around it."