The Rabbit Control Plan 2021-2026 was adopted at the 27 July Council Meeting. The City would like to thank the community and the various stakeholders who provided input into the development of the plan over the three phases of consultation. We are looking forward to implementing this important plan.

OVERVIEW

The City would like your feedback on our Draft Rabbit Control Plan 2020-24.

The draft plan outlines how the City will control rabbits on City-managed land and support the broader community to reduce rabbit impacts.

The Draft Rabbit Control Plan 2020-24:

• describes the impacts rabbits have in our region
• identifies rabbit prone locations and priority areas for control
• sets out a methodology for effective rabbit control
• outlines our rabbit control commitments and guiding principles
• states our vision and goals
• contains an action plan to be completed over the next four years.

Please read the Draft Rabbit Control Plan 2020-24 and provide your comments via the survey link below. We are particularly interested in your thoughts about the vision, goals and actions, but please provide any comments you have on any part of the draft plan.

The closing date for feedback is 25 August 2020.

Rabbits are an introduced pest to Australia and are declared as “established pest animals” under the Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994. Every landowner, including the City, is responsible for the control of rabbits on their land.

Rabbits are currently impacting on City environmental and recreational areas, roadsides and adjoining land. This plan will help the City prioritise where rabbit control work will be undertaken to achieve the best long-term outcomes.

To successfully control rabbits on any reserve or parcel of land a long-term plan with an integrated management approach is required. This plan will identify all management options available and what we need to do to ensure control methods used are effective and safe.

To successfully control rabbits across a landscape, or at a regional scale, landowners, need to work with their neighbours to coordinate efforts. This plan will address ways the City can partner with landcare groups and communities to address landscape scale rabbit issues.

Please watch this video to find out why rabbits are such are big problem in the Geelong region.

Rabbits are causing serious damage to the significant native vegetation on this roadside

The City completed a pre-draft community consultation period from late 2018 to October 2019 to help develop the Draft Rabbit Control Plan 2020-24. A total of 580 specific comments were received during this time.

The consultation occurred in two phases:

• Phase one was conducted in December 2018 and January 2019. Comments were received from 16 participants via a community workshop and a community feedback form. The feedback form was distributed in partnership with the Bellarine Catchment Network and the Geelong Landcare Network.
• Phase two occurred from August to October 2019. Comments were received from 90 participants via three workshops and a survey. Three open-house style community workshops (Leopold, Lara and Geelong) where held and 72 responses were received via the online survey on our ‘Your Say’ web page. A printed copy of the survey was also available on request. The Rural Peri-Urban Advisory Committee also helped guide the development of the Plan.

A pre-draft community consultation report that summarises the comments received is available to view under the document library section.

The open house consultation session at Leopold - August 2019

The personal information requested on this form is being collected by City of Greater Geelong for the purpose of the Draft Rabbit Control Plan 2020-24 or any other directly related purpose. If the personal information is not collected, we may not be able to contact you for further questions or solutions. In this engagement your User Name will be published with your comment, if you wish to make a non-public comment please contact the engagement officer listed. Your personal information will not be disclosed, except as required to do so by law. Our privacy policy is available on our website. If you wish to alter any of the personal information you have supplied to City of Greater Geelong, please contact us by sending an email to privacy@geelongcity.vic.gov.au.