A small creek separates an estimated 20,000 Grey Headed Flying Foxes – or bats as they are commonly known – and the people who live in the southern end of Myee Road, Macquarie Fields.
The bats are a protected species, courtesy of NSW state legislation.
However, a colony that big and that close to homes has inevitably made life miserable for their human neighbours.
So there’s no easy solution, because as the Campbelltown Mayor, George Greiss, said after an inspection of the site last week, “it’s a complicated issue’’.
He was joined by council’s environment officer Mitchell Clark, director of city governance Phu Nguyen, and councillors Karen Hunt (Labor) and Matt Stellino (Animal Justice Party).
Representing the residents during the site inspection was Jim Bucknall.
Mitigation measures were discussed, including a sprinkler system during the warmer months to keep the bats away from homes and weeding of the residents’ side of the creek.
Mr Bucknall said was surprised to hear that the land down to the creek on the residents’ side is owned by the strata management, so council would need permission from them before doing any weeding work there.
Also discussed was the future of the grants to residents trial which provided financial assistance to help mitigate the cost of dealing with some of the problems caused by the bats, including noise.
Council allocated $50,000 for the trial, but not all of the money was used because not all residents applied for a $1000 grant.
No figures were available as to how many residents took up the grant offer.
“This is so complicated – for starters because we would need permission from the state government, for example, to introduce the sprinkler system the officer was talking about,’’ says Mayor Greiss.
“We also have to get permission from the strata manager before doing any weeding work on the creek.
“As for the grants to residents, there will be a report to council looking at how the trial went, and then we’ll consider what we will do moving forward,’’ he said.
During the site meeting and inspection last Thursday night, the mayor made it clear that he wasn’t going to promise to do anything that he could not deliver.
“The commitment I made was that the council would do its best to give residents some level of comfort and protection without breaking the law,’’ he said.
