THE TWEED SHIRE Volume 2 #14 Thursday, December 3, 2009 Advertising and news enquiries: Phone: (02) 6672 2280 Fax: (02) 6672 4933 editor@tweedecho.com.au adcopy@tweedecho.com.au www.tweedecho.com.au
Our new property guide starts on page 23 LOCAL & INDEPENDENT
Councillors’ expenses to be revealed?
Eagle soars to freedom
Ken Sapwell
Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary animal trainer Luke Chigwidden with the three-year-old Wedgetailed eagle nicknamed Miss Toby just before he released her in the Cudgera Creek area on Tuesday. Photo Luis Feliu Luis Feliu
A three-year-old Wedgetailed eagle had its first taste of freedom in almost six months when it was released by carers into the wild at Cudgera Creek on Tuesday after it was rehabilitated for an injured wing. The eagle was rescued by Tweed Valley Wildlife Carers (TVWC) last July on a property at Cudgera Creek and had been rehabilitated at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary since then. ‘She was found by locals struggling to fly, she seemed to have a dislocated shoulder, so we looked after her for a couple of days then rang the Currumbin Wildilife Sanctuary as they have proper facilities and enclosures for rehabilitating raptors’, TVWC president Helen Joakim said. ‘As she couldn’t fly, she could not hunt for food, and the eagles are the top of the food chain, so
all the birds around here were harassing her, she would have starved to death or attacked by dogs or other animals.’ Sanctuary animal trainer Luke Chigwidden, a TVWC volunteer himself for several years before joining the sanctuary, released ‘Miss Toby’ as the eagle is known, before an enthusiastic group of locals and wildlife carers on Tuesday morning, using a dead rabbit as a lure to keep her fed and in the area where she was last seen with her male partner and till she is strong enough to hunt. ‘This one was lucky in that her wing was not permanently damaged, injured wings are a big problem for birds of prey because as soon as you do any damage to them they’re out, flying and fitness is most important for their survival,’ Luke said. ‘The biggest problem in caring for raptors is that they have to be fit when they’re released, so
they can chase their prey and scavenge. ‘We’ve had a surge of injured raptors brought into the sanctuary recently, the end of spring and start of summer is the peak season because that’s when all the offspring are leaving their nests, we had 30 Brahminy kites in recently. ‘Australia Zoo is sending us all their raptors, as we have a new facility designed for them with a large enclosure so they can fly around,’ he said. Ms Joakim said TVWC could only dream of having such a purpose-built facility to care for the many birds of prey brought in. ‘We’ve rescued four eagles in the past few years in the Tweed Valley including a sea eagle and we really need a proper shed for the raptors,’ she said. Not only a shed, but TVWC is always looking for volunteer carers to train. For info or to join, call 02 6672 4709.
A bid to hide councillors’ expenses from public scrutiny appears set to come unstuck at this month’s council meeting. Greens councillor Katie Milne is expected to win majority support for a push to re-instate a list of councillors’ individual expenses traditionally published in an annual report. Senior council staff quietly axed the list following the return of the new council in September last year after the previous council was sacked in 2005 and administrators appointed. Chinderah-based councillor Kevin Skinner blew the whistle on the change when he described expenses being claimed by some councillors on their trips away as ‘exorbitant.’ ‘I just don’t think it’s necessary for all the councillors to be going off to these things all the time,’ he complained, adding he had attended just one. Although he did not name names, he told the last council meeting there should be a limit on the number of councillors attending conference and seminars and that they provide a report for those who didn’t attend.
‘Warped view of reality’ Council’s corporate services chief Troy Green says it was decided to publish an aggregate list of expenses because listing them separately would be too complicated and ‘would give a warped view of reality’. This was because the figures included the wages of the mayor’s and councillor’s personal assistants for the first time as well as the distance travelled between each councillor’s home and council offices. Total costs racked up by councillors in the nine months to June 30, not including their meeting fees, was $86,295, including nearly $25,000 spent on conferences and training seminars. continued on page 2
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