Volunteers at the Yalukit Willam Nature Reserve fear that recent nest box removals are part of a confidential council plan to oust them from the project.
Volunteers raised serious concerns last week after Bayside City Council contractors altered and removed nest boxes that had been installed to support native wildlife, sparking a bitter dispute over consultation, animal welfare and responsibility for the reserve’s management.
After a decade of careful and dedicated work installing dozens of nest boxes, many volunteers were heartbroken to discover that boxes showing evidence of wildlife young had been removed.
Members of the Yalukit Willam Nature Association (YWNA), a volunteer group that has worked for years to restore habitat at the former Elsternwick Park golf course, say nest box alteration works carried out in March caused distress to wildlife and breached assurances given by council officers.
According to the association, volunteers were told ahead of the works that boxes showing signs of occupancy would be left in place and that no nest boxes would be completely removed. However, YWNA says those assurances proved empty. Boxes were moved regardless of whether they were occupied, and at least seven nest boxes were removed entirely.
“When we checked after the works, every box that had been altered was empty,” said a spokesperson for the association. Volunteers reported that the boxes had recently housed sugar gliders, ringtail and brushtail possums, rainbow lorikeets and lorikeet chicks, with at least one box appearing ready for nesting by red‑rumped parrots.
The association says it was not adequately consulted prior to the works and believes the outcome could have been avoided if volunteers had been treated as equal partners in wildlife management. Members also described witnessing boxes being lowered to the ground without checks for wildlife, and some boxes being poorly reinstalled, creating safety risks.
Bayside City Council has rejected claims of wrongdoing, stating it is not responsible for injuries to native wildlife in what it describes as “unsafe nesting boxes placed without permission”. In a statement released on 16 April, council said it acted responsibly and in line with its legislative obligations, following advice from an ecological consultant.
Council maintains that only three empty nest boxes were removed or relocated, citing safety and construction issues. It said inspections confirmed various species were using boxes across the reserve and reported that one ringtail possum was found stuck in an unsafe box and one rainbow lorikeet was taken to a veterinarian. Council denied that other animals were removed or handled during the process.
A passionate volunteer told TWiSK that the volunteer community was distressed. “First they kicked out the wildlife – we fear we may be next to get kicked out,” the volunteer said.
Despite the dispute, the Yalukit Willam Nature Association says it hopes to repair its relationship with council, emphasising the emotional toll the situation has had on volunteers. “We value our work at the reserve and want a genuine partnership,” the group said, calling for greater transparency and collaboration to ensure wildlife protection moving forward.
Link to Bayside Council statement
Bayside disappointed with misinformation on Yalukit Willam Nature Reserve management
Link to text of Yalukit Willam Nature Association statement
Link to YWNA Facebook
YWNA President Gio Fitzpatrick published this video on Facebook on 16 April 2026
