Wilsons Promontory National Park: Parks Victoria fence project flops

A bid to design and build Victoria’s most expensive fence, to stop foxes, deer and rabbits entering Wilsons Prom, has flopped.

Feral invaders: Hog deer (pictured) along with sambar and fallow deer are just three of the feral pests that infest Wilsons Promontory National Park and surrounding areas.

The Victorian Government has withdrawn its tender seeking contractors to design one of Australia’s most expensive predator-proof fences across the Yanakie isthmus leading into Wilsons Promontory.

The 8km to 10km fence is the key to the Andrews Government’s ambitious $23 million Wilsons Prom Revitalisation Project, to first exclude new pests coming into the park and then eradicate foxes, cats, rabbits and deer within it to create a 48,244ha pest-free paradise for native wildlife.

In February Parks Victoria issued 13 tender documents, consisting of hundreds of pages outlining what would be a challenging project for any designer or contractor to deliver.

Pest free: A couple taking in the view at Wilsons Prom. Picture: Garry Moore

But just three days after the March 25 deadline for offers to be lodged, Parks Victoria issued an alert that it had withdrawn from the tender after struggling to attract bids and was “now considering an alternate procurement strategy for these works”.

The logistics of designing and building the fence outlined in the original tender documents were daunting, given it must traverse acid-sulphate soils, cross sand dunes, be buried deep enough to stop burrowing animals, extend at least 10m into the ocean beyond the low tide mark, be fire resistant and withstand the Promontory’s howling winds.

The planning process also meant whoever took on the job was required to complete cultural heritage and native vegetation offset plans, employ designers, hydrologists, engineers and surveyors, prior to seeking a contractor to build the fence.

T&S Rural Fencing contractor Tim Ebeyer said he would “love to do the job”, which he said was feasible, but would be a “mammoth task” at a time when the cost of materials was soaring and the sector was booked out for almost 12 months.

“You’re talking huge money,” Mr Ebeyer said.

One of the big issues is just how to stop deer getting back into the park, given Invasive Species Council chief executive Andrew Cox said they were strong swimmers.

But he said eradication of deer and other pest species from the park was still possible, given Australia’s and other nations’ success on removing rabbits, rodents and other pests from islands.

“This (the Prom) is as close as we get to an island on the mainland,” Mr Cox said.

“They have just removed cats from Dirk Hartog Island (Western Australia), which is 62,000ha, by dividing it up with fences.”

But he warned any eradication program would also have to be carefully balanced, given the experience on Macquarie Island, where once the cat population was eradicated the rabbit and rodent population exploded.