By VICTORIA STONE-MEADOWS
HEALESVILLE’S most iconic feathered resident is facing an expensive rent bill or eviction, after living in his current home for almost a decade.
Charlie the sulphur-crested cockatoo has been a fixture on the Healesville main road for about seven years in his home outside Healesville Stockfeed.
On Wednesday 2 December, Charlie’s owner and owner of the stockfeed store, Catherine Crow, received a letter from the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) saying she would need to pay $600 a year to keep Charlie on the premises or remove him from public display.
Ms Crow said covering the bill would be difficult for the business.
“We’re not a sanctuary or zoo and we don’t make any money off him,” Ms Crow said.
A spokesperson from DELWP said that a business that wanted to have birds such as cockatoos on display must have a permit to do so.
“Sulphur-crested cockatoos can be held without a licence in Victoria for non-commercial purposes,” she said.
“If you have a bird for the purpose of being on display it needs a licence, even if the owner is not making money from the bird.”
The DELWP spokesperson said wildlife officers visited the Healesville Stockfeed Store after receiving a report from a member of the public regarding the cockatoo.
Ms Crow believes someone has complained to DELWP that Charlie was pleading for help to passers-by.
“Someone has complained anonymously about him saying “help me” but he has never said anything close to that,” he said.
“Even if he did all he does is mimic words, he wouldn’t know what he was saying.”
“He’s very healthy and well looked after,” she said.
Ms Crow said they were not looking for loopholes and were happy to do the right thing when it came to licensing but the scale of the bill might be too much for them.
“We’re not in a business that makes a lot of money and $600 is quite steep considering he’s just a pet that we keep at work,” she said.
On Monday 7 December DELWP Wildlife officers contacted Ms Crow again and said Charlie could stay on the premises without a permit as long as he was not in public display.
Ms Crow said it would be very sad to have to move Charlie away from the public space as he is a much-loved character among the local human residents of Healesville.
“The kids love him, they stop and talk to him and he’s always polite and very friendly.”
“He’s become a bit of an icon in the area,” she said.
Ms Crow says she will comply with moving Charlie from his current position from the front of the shop but doesn’t think it will end there.
“We’ll need to modify the verandah at the back of the shop to give him more shade before he can go out there,” she said.
“We will do that to start with and see where we go from there.”
