4 days ago
Campaign to improve aviary continues
A Southland woman, whose tireless campaigning to the Gore District Council resulted in the rehoming of peafowl, is still unhappy with the conditions of the town's aviary.
Nikki Broad said it took 18 months of letter-writing to the council to get Gore aviary's popular peacock and peahen re-homed last April.
Now, council members were again ignoring her pleas to add greenery to the remaining birds' "sunless and barren" enclosures, she said.
A couple of months ago, the council said in a statement numerous complaints led to a veterinarian's assessment of the distinctive birds' 1.5sq m enclosure, which found it was too small, needing more natural light and green grass.
Last week, Ms Broad launched a "Give Them Green" campaign on social media, asking for permanent plantings, leafy branches, plants in containers and ground cover for the remaining animals.
"Birds need greenery, it's good for their health," she said.
In response to her latest campaign, council parks and recreation manager Keith McRobie said it was supporting the birds' caretaker Bob Smith, who had looked after the aviary for 27 years.
To support the caretaker and owner of the birds, it was providing fruit and vegetables for the creatures alongside their usual feed, and had offered green branches as natural perches.
Ms Broad discovered the aviary conditions were not to her liking when visiting Gore for the 2023 Rhododendron Festival and had been in communication with councillors to have it improved ever since.
The aviary itself needed renovation, but she did not see that happening due to the financial constraints of the district council and the wider world, Ms Broad said.
Communications with Gore District Mayor Ben Bell informed her that upgrades to the aviary were part of the council's long-term plan but, again, she did not see that happening any time soon.
"It does say 'budget allowing', and the way the world is going we're not looking at anything short of a miracle for money for a new aviary."
Her focus instead was on adding a constant supply of green to improve the birds' quality of life.
While the Queen's Park aviary had been improved over 10 years ago and was now up to standard, the Oamaru aviary had been closed due to similar problems, she said.
Mr Smith said he had re-homed the peafowl but did not want to disclose details of their location as he did not want the birds to receive the unwanted attention he was already receiving.
He declined to comment further.
Ms Broad hoped the campaign would reach those who felt similarly about the Gore aviary, and with 200 of those people's signatures on a petition, she would be able to speak at a Gore District Council meeting about the cause.
"And in that one there, I'll be quite plain about this lack of reply to correspondence," she said.
