FOR the equivalent of 13 kilometres of bitumen a new wild dog check fence could be built in Queensland’s central west, allowing those areas to begin reaping nearly $7 million in economic benefit in its first year.
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Those are some of the findings of the feasibility study into the check fence, released in draft form in Barcaldine yesterday.
The proposed fence route is shown in green, while the existing Wild Dog Barrier Fence is shown in yellow and shire boundaries are shown in red.
Ian Perkins of LPM Resource Management told the gathering of local government and industry representatives that wild dogs were costing the areas involved $13 million each year, made up of sheep and cattle losses plus local government costs.
“It’s a massive problem that’s having repercussions right through the community, and something pretty serious has to be done,” he said.
He and the feasibility study steering committee found that a multi-shire fence could be constructed for around $13 million, with annual maintenance costs amounting to around $1 million a year.
They have released a draft map of the area the fence is proposed to enclose.
Encompassing most of the Longreach Regional Council area, the western portions of the Barcaldine and Blackall-Tambo regions and an area in the eastern part of the Barcoo shire, it adds up to 9,266,400ha.
The fence would be a total of 1600km in length, incorporating 200km of the existing Wild Dog Barrier Fence.
Mr Perkins said the committee had aimed to include the country that still ran sheep and was capable of running sheep and cattle.
Public benefits cited included industry diversification options, improved land prices, stronger local economies, improved community resilience and regional economic stimulus.
Risks and problems identified by the study included eradicating the wild dogs inside a new fence, maintaining it, and governance issues or who manages it.
All at the meeting agreed that the evidence in favour of a fence was indisputable and said they wished to progress the idea.
Obtaining funds to build a fence would be the next challenge for the steering committee, along with community consultation.
They agreed that state and federal funds should be sought for the capital outlay, while a state-local co-investment model was probably the best option for ongoing maintenance costs.
