More than 30 geese that call Lake Daylesford home could be forced to take flight; although Hepburn Shire Mayor Don Henderson said they're not destined for "Christmas lunch".
Fears of environmental damage, clean-up costs and aggressive behaviour have prompted calls for the geese to be re-homed, despite their popularity with Daylesford visitors.
A report prepared by the council's biodiversity officer said the growing goose population was affecting native Black Swans - and costing the council $5000 a year to clean up droppings.
"Domestic geese and ducks stress native waterfowl, lake vegetation and reduce water quality," the report said.
"Counts of the geese suggest potential for steady increase with numbers increasing from low twenties in 2018 to low thirties earlier this year."
Cr Henderson said the move was a necessary action as part of the shire's biodiversity strategy.
"We're a supposedly pristine area where we value our environment and we undertake things like getting rid of noxious weeds from the lakes," Cr Henderson said.
"So what's different between some feral geese and feral plants?"
A spokesperson for the Lake House, a hotel on the edge of Lake Daylesford, said they opposed the removal of the "enormously popular" geese.
"We believe they bring a vital sense of 'country' to the lake environs which is essential in continuing to attract visitors wanting to escape the city," they said.
"We hope that there will be more consideration to the situation rather than a quick decision to remove the entire flock."
The council is set to vote on the removal on Tuesday evening and has engaged a contractor to transport the geese - potentially to the Mornington Peninsula - at a cost of $2,750, to be funded through the shire's biodiversity budget.
Cr Henderson said the geese were not at risk of harm.
"The contractor that's proposed to be hired is very experienced doing it," Cr Henderson said.
"We're not about being popular we're about doing the right thing."
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