THERE will be no quick fix to the flying fox problem at Blackalls Park.
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Lake Macquarie City Council’s draft management plan for the flying foxes (also known as fruit bats) offers no short-term relief for long-suffering residents.
Instead, the draft plan talks about relatively passive and long-term measures such as
- rehabilitating the land within the flying fox camp with different trees;
- periodic monitoring of the flying fox population to “improve understanding of flying fox behaviour”; and
- community engagement and a resident assistance program “where appropriate”.
Even if the council had the will to implement more active measures to achieve immediate results, its hands are tied by state and federal legislation.
“Grey-headed flying-foxes are listed as threatened species under both NSW and Commonwealth legislation, and disturbance to flying foxes and their habitat is limited by legislative requirements,” the council’s draft plan notes.
The plan was formulated after affected residents were surveyed, and in consultation with the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage.
Given the legal constraints, council has understandably played a straight bat.
Affected residents should brace for more of the same – more noise, odour and droppings on their cars, garden furniture and clotheslines – as the plan offers little to be optimistic about.
“Experience in other areas has shown that attempts to move [flying fox] camps are generally unsuccessful, expensive, and likely to result in relocation of problems,” the council said.
Elsewhere around Australia, a number of measures – some of them illegal – have been used by desperate communities seeking relief from flying foxes.
These methods have included the use of flashing strobe lights or lasers, loud noises such as bangs and sirens played on a continuous loop, and the firing of “scare guns”.