Adelaide City Council’s proposed koala rescue centre estimated at $10 million – but a far cheaper option has been put forward
A koala rescue centre was suggested for the Adelaide Parklands after summer’s fires – but the cost estimate blew out to a whopping $10 million. The councillor behind the idea says there’s a better way that won’t cost them anything.
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A koala rescue centre in the Adelaide Parklands would cost up to $10 million and exhaust the area’s eucalypt in a “few months”, an Adelaide City Council investigation revealed.
A council committee on Tuesday night considered a report into the construction of a rehabilitation centre for injured koalas.
The report found it would cost the council about $75,000 to rehabilitate each koala.
The proposal has raised concerns with some councillors, including the Deputy Lord Mayor Alexander Hyde who said there is a cheaper, better way to go about the sanctuary.
Cr Hyde, who pushed for the sanctuary in January following the state’s devastating bushfires, planned to ask the council to shelve the proposal and instead consider “cordoning off patches of dirt” for an animal rescue to operate its own hospital.
“We would not pay for anything and would say here is a little space you can use … and we would not be responsible for running any centre,” Cr Hyde said.
“(The plan developed) is a ridiculous gold-plated option.”
The report said the centre would have 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.
It would only be able to cater for 20 koalas at one time.
The centre would require an extensive tree plantation, a corpse disposal area, intensive care unit, veterinary equipment and cool storage.
A visitor centre with a “koala holding type of experience” would need a koala population to those receiving care.
Cr Anne Moran called Cr Hyde’s push a “stupid idea”.
Adelaide Parklands Preservation Association president Shane Sody said a temporary or permanent facility that excludes the public did not belong on the parklands.
“If anyone wants to put koalas in a shipping container, they should do it on their own property,” Mr Sody said.
Adelaide Koala Rescue declined to comment.
The council will make a decision on Cr Hyde’s amendment next week.
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