A COLLECTIVE voice could be a solution to the region-wide corella problem.   

It comes after extensive damage to Horsham’s Coughlin Park, Horsham College Oval, Horsham City Oval, Horsham Lawn Tennis Club and the city’s croquet club. 

In other parts of the region, mass corellas populations are wreaking havoc on Wimmera recreational areas, tourism and rural properties. 

Horsham Rural City Council is using drones to move corellas out of Horsham.

However, councillor David Grimble said council should have conversations with neighbouring councils to form an appropriate solution. “This is a collective issue and not restricted to the Horsham Rural City Council. It is time we raise it as a collective to the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning and Agriculture Minister Jaala Pulford,” he said. 

Edenhope Lakeside Tourist Park owner Paul Spencer said the park’s reputation was a concern because visitors were commenting on the corellas. 

“Most of our business comes through WikiCamp and I am worried someone will put a review up about how noisy and destructive the corellas are, which will put people off,” he said. 

Mr Spencer said scare tactics were not effective because they keep returning. 

“There has been a lot of money spent on this park and they just destroy it – to fix it up is a waste of time,” he said.  

West Wimmera Shire mayor Jodie Pretlove said council was using scare tactics to move corellas out of its boundaries. However, she believed councils working together would be effective in finding a solution. “We need to come up with better solutions,” she said.

“Tourism is important in our shire, but with the water in Edenhope’s Lake Wallace the corella population has grown.

“Unless we come up with a different scheme to cull the corellas and get the population down it is going to be an ongoing problem. We need to look at what has been done in the past to remedy the issue.”  

Murra Warra farmer and Victorian Farmers Federation president David Jochinke said corellas were an issue in the agricultural industry. He said moving them from one location to another was not a solution.

“Farmers are affected when we are trying to establish crops, but at the moment there’s no fresh growth on farmland. They go to areas that are appealing and sports grounds become easy picking,” he said.