There has been no resolution to complaints about wild rabbit populations at Meander Valley, despite the council first raising the issue with a government department in January.
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Meander Valley Council mayor Wayne Johnston said the council had first written a letter to the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment in January to request assistance for out-of-control rabbit populations in Westbury, Mole Creek and Meander.
However, on Wednesday, he said no further action had been taken, with the council receiving a letter to that effect from the department last week. DPIPWE on Wednesday also released a biosecurity advisory outlining the 2021 calicivirus release program, a virus used to combat rabbit populations. That advisory said no locations had been published.
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"As a consequence of the good growing conditions, this year will be a challenging year for rabbit control," the advisory reads.
"With this summer's high rainfall, there is currently an abundance of food available, especially grass, so conditions are good for rabbits to breed and they may be less likely to take calicivirus treated bait."
Calicivirus is typically released during the March to July period in areas where identified rabbit numbers are problematic.
Since the council first raised the issue, Cr Johnston said rabbit populations in his municipality had only grown.
"What we're hearing is that the rabbits are getting underneath sheds and undermining foundations, digging up lawns and a lot of people can't have vegetable gardens," he said.
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If the population continues to grow, Cr Johnston said it would start to impact the municipality's healthy rural population.
"Rabbits will start eating the crops as they come out of the ground, which will have a significant impact," he said.
The reply from DPIPWE was not satisfactory, he said, and he would ensure the council wrote another response back to try and get help.
He also reiterated his earlier offer for the DPIPWE staff to host public information sessions in the municipality to update residents.
A DPIPWE spokeswoman said the department had been engaging with Westbury landowners for a number of months but did not detail exactly how it would tackle the rabbit problem.
"A letter has been sent to Meander Valley Council outlining the roles of landowners, local government and government in rabbit management and providing advice to council about how landowners in its municipality can manage rabbits on their land," they said.
The spokeswoman said Biosecurity Tasmania continued to undertake property assessment, and if any properties were assessed as suitable for calicivirus release, they would be listed online.
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