Calls to quit corella cull
Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 13:17 
Some City of Bayswater residents are opposed to the planned culling of corellas. Picture: Dominique MenegaldoCITY of Bayswater residents have urged Bayswater council to block the culling of corellas in Maylands.
The council last month rejected a Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) application to shoot the birds as they flew in to roost at Maylands Foreshore Reserve.
Councillors requested the DEC use alternative control measures, saying shooting was inappropriate in an urban setting.
However, concerned Maylands residents are now calling for the City to block the culling of corellas, regardless of the method.
They have organised a 100-plus signature petition, which could prompt Mayor Terry Kenyon to call a special electors’ meeting to discuss the issue.
But the meeting might come too late for the petitioners, with the DEC expected to start capturing and gassing the corellas this week.
Lifelong resident Dorothy Gilby (69) said corellas had never been a problem.
She did not want the council to be involved in catching and gassing the birds.
“I’ve been in this house my whole life and they were here before me and they’ve never been a problem,” she said.
“They say they’re eastern states birds, but most of us have come here from somewhere else.
“They never touch our fruit trees and I’ve certainly never seen one eat-ing electric cables.
“It seems to be a constant thing with the DEC, they’re either killing this or culling that.
“What I would be focusing on is getting the firebreaks right.”
Dianella resident Deanne Vines, who helped collect the petition, said culling birds was not a sustainable solution.
She said the process would be extremely traumatic for the “highly social animals”.
A DEC spokeswoman said the introduced corellas were pests because they ate plants, chewed through electric cabling and damaged reticulation and grass surfaces. They posed a threat to native birds by inhabiting nest hollows.
Cr Kenyon said although he did not like the idea of culling birds, he was not an environmental expert. He had never received a ratepayer complaint about the birds.