Whanganui LTP: Closing aviary takes away from Rotokawau Virginia Lake’s total package, trust chair says

Virginia Lake Trust chairman Terry Coxon during the unveiling of the Pura McGregor memorial waka in 2020. Photo / Bevan Conley

Whanganui District Council’s proposal to close Rotokawau Virginia Lake’s aviary has been questioned by the lake’s trust.

Virginia Lake Trust chairman Terry Coxon said the park was “a total lake package”, including a reserve with unusual flora and fauna, winter gardens and abundant wildfowl.

“And an aviary, where caged birds can mix with the public,” he said.

“It’s an interesting contrast to our web-footed friends, and there are plenty of them up there.”

The council says closing the aviary will save ratepayers $190,000 per year.

In April, Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe said that was made up of $150,000 in wages and $40,000 in operating costs each year.

According to its Long Term plan (LTP) consultation document, closing the winter gardens would save $140,000 per year but council was recommending keeping them open.

Speaking during public hearings on the LTP last week, Coxon said the council was “using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut”.

He said the leader of the council’s aviary team was a bird fancier and bred caged birds.

“Has any thought been given to striking a deal with him to run it independently?” Coxon said.

“Maybe [the aviary] is something that’s a bit passe and maybe it needs (to be) quietly run down, but why knock down a perfectly sound structure and all its attachments when there’s a guy there that, if you talk to him, might actually run it?”

The council proposed to shut the aviary last year following a less-than-glowing report from zoologist Dr Lorne Roberts but it was kept open after overwhelming public support.

Thirty-eight of 410 public submissions on the council’s 2023/24 annual plan called for the facility to shut.

Coxon asked if the council had figures around how many people visited the lake.

Terry Coxon says the option of privatising the aviary should be explored. Photo / Bevan Conley

In the past, university students had been used to count people, he said.

“As I drove past this morning, both carparks were chocka.

“They are like that every day, until sunset.”

He said the trust wanted the council to consider what was at the lake and how it complemented each other - “everything sits so nicely together”.

“Have a long-term plan for the aviary if you must, but why knock it down now?”

Councillor Kate Joblin asked if the trust thought anything was missing from the facility.

Coxon said the cafe - currently the Funky Duck and originally caretaker’s quarters - was a “bit of a hodge-podge”.

He suggested a more modern cafe be built overlooking the lake, with the Funky Duck being knocked down and turned into a carpark.

“That would be interesting but I don’t think the council should be building it.”

Paying koha at the aviary was possible but at present a used parking meter with no signage was the only option, he said.

“No one puts any money in the bloody thing.”

Councillor Michael Law asked if the trust would prefer the aviary to be privatised, rather than the council running it.

Coxon said that option should be explored.

The trust was made up of hard-working volunteers who spent two mornings a month “doing all sorts of menial tasks” and it had raised and spent about $700,000 around the lake since the trust was formed, he said.

The trust was started by the late Sandy Dobbin in 2000.

“We have skin in the game,” Coxon said.

“We do all sorts of things. Tomorrow, we are going to be staining seats all around the front.

“The place is not pristine but it’s obviously a lot, lot better than it was in the past.”

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.