Adelaide City Council plans to find volunteers to open a koala rescue
Adelaide City Council has shunned a proposal to build a wildlife rescue worth $10 million in the parklands, and will instead call on a volunteer organisation to make its own.
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Adelaide City Council is looking for a wildlife group to build an animal rescue centre in the parklands.
The council voted at its last meeting to find a not-for-profit organisation to run a temporary sanctuary where injured animals, like koalas, can be looked after.
It comes after a council report showed a permanent centre on the parklands would cost up to $10 million to build.
Deputy Lord Mayor Alexander Hyde said the move would support the “vital work” of local wildlife rescue groups.
“We are saying to them we have oodles of space here, a lot that is under-utilised, so would you be able to make use of it?” Cr Hyde said.
“You could use it for a higher and noble purpose.
“This is not committing us to anything, it is not going to cost us any money, it is just talking to our community.”
Cr Robert Simms said he was concerned about “cordoning off sections of the parklands”.
“However, I am also in the camp of wanting to see us support vulnerable animals during this time,” Cr Simms said.
“This sets up an important precedent for this council in terms of animal rights.”
Cr Anne Moran said the wildlife rescue would be “simply annexing” the parklands.
A council report said a permanent centre would have had a high demand on plant resources, would not bring the tourist and education as benefits originally expected and would exclude the public from accessing some of the parklands.
If the centre was run by the council, it would cost about $75,000 to rehabilitate each koala.
The Adelaide Park Lands Preservation Association is against the idea.
”Parklands are supposed to be open, green and public,” president Shane Sody said.
“A wildlife sanctuary in the Park Lands (even if run by a non-profit organisation) would not be open land.
“It would not be publicly run – it would be an another privatisation of public land.”
It would not be the first development the group have opposed, having more recently protested against the Adelaide Crows building a $65 million training and administration complex at the Aquatic Centre site.
The club has since shelved those plans.
