Bunbury's Czar's reign to continue

The beloved pet peacock of Picton Crescent, Czar, will not be re-homed, despite complaints from a neighbour about the bird’s early morning “screeching’’ during its mating season.

Czar’s owner, Katrina Bogdanoff, was told by the Bunbury City Council late last year the peacock had to be relocated because the bird’s noises disturbed people at a nearby property.

Tuart Street resident Harry Beaver told the council the bird let out “blood curdling screeches” in the early hours of the morning, keeping his family awake.

“It’s not the bird which is the issue, it’s the horrendous screeching,” he said.

Mr Beaver said the bird had been a “nuisance” for the past six years and expressed dismay the matter had made it as far as a full council meeting.

He played the council a recording of a peacock’s calls, saying the noise regularly woke him at 2am.

Keeping roosters, geese, turkeys and peacocks and peafowls in residential areas is against the City of Bunbury’s local laws unless permission is given by the council.

In 2010 Mrs Bogdanoff accepted responsibility for the peacock and was granted approval to keep the bird on the condition the council did not receive any noise complaints.

Despite the noise concerns, the council voted unanimously at Tuesday night’s meeting to allow Mrs Bogdanoff to keep Czar.

The decision was made, after more than an hour of public presentations, in front of a packed public gallery who were at the meeting to show support for the popular bird.

The council was presented with a petition in support of keeping Czar, signed by nearly 400 people.

A number of neighbours spoke of the “great joy” Czar had brought them in the 10 years since the wild bird first arrived on the street.

Neighbour Anne-Marie Offer told the council her three children had never been disturbed by the bird’s screeching at night.

Bunbury Mayor David Smith, who lives on the same street as the bird, said the council could not always respond to the “sensibilities” of one resident or one family.

He said the council had to make a judgment which reflected the majority’s view.

Mrs Bogdanoff said Czar was the street’s pet and was loved and visited by many people.