Wyndham council will cover the costs of household snake removals until September, 2017 after a public backlash to its decision to scrap its in-house service.
The council voted unanimously on Monday night to pass a motion by Cr Heather Marcus to extend a council-funded professional snake catcher’s employment for the next two years.
The ongoing future of the service will be reviewed after September 2017.
Earlier this year, the council voted to scrap its existing in-house snake removal service from September and hire a professional catcher for one year before reverting to a user pays system from September 2016.
Following that, residents were expected to fork out an average call-out fee of $150 to locate and remove a snake from their property.
At the time, furious residents called on the council to reverse its decision and lodged a petition of more than 900 signatures with the council last month. That petition has since grown to more than 1460 signatures.
A council report found that requests to remove snakes from private properties had risen by 42 per cent from 115 during the 2012-13 snake season (from early spring) to 163 during 2013-14.
Safety paramount
The report attributed the rise to new housing estates encroaching on snake habitats and the creation of lakes near residential developments.
Cr Marcus said the safety of residents, children and pets was paramount.
“This is a safety issue we need to address; this is a service that we need to keep,” Cr Marcus said this week.
“Money should not come into this decision.”
Fellow councillor Bob Fairclough said a council report showed a high level of dissatisfaction with the council’s previous in-house snake removal service.
As many as 80 per cent of residents were unimpressed with the in-house service because council officers did not provide a “search and removal” service if the snake could not be located, he pointed out.
“I think it’s a big improvement by getting the snake catcher to attend more of these instances,” Cr Fairclough said.
