BATS are more important than people, according to residents living among hundreds of thousands of flying foxes.
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Residents living along the Peel River are getting overwhelmed and “desperate” with the native flying-foxes taking up roost on their properties, and want to see people put first.
“The bats are more important than humans,” resident Lynne Prisk said.
“They have come into a man-made environment.”
Recently, a group of residents and business-owners in one of the most heavily-affected areas held a meeting and resolved that plans to move the bats weren’t working.
“I’m seriously worried,” Mrs Prisk told The Leader.
She said it was becoming a health and safety issue, and people were experiencing mental health issues on account of the flying mammals.
“We know the bats are important to the environment,” she said.
“We’re not against the bats; we’re not bat nazis.
“But this is plague proportions.”
While it might be a very small proportion of the Tamworth community airing its frustration, Lynne’s husband, Peter, said it would be a different story if the flying foxes went in another direction.
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“If they went downstream towards the CBD, rather than up towards this end of town,” he said.
“Then the whole of Tamworth would be up in arms.”
Mr Prisk said the problem is more than just the vast number of animals taking roost along the river.
“You can take a photo of the bats and everyone has seen the bats in the air,” he said.
“It’s the stuff you don’t see in the photo, it’s the smell that hits you like a wall of stench, particularly in the dusk and early morning.
“It’s the faeces on the paths … It’s everywhere, on the roof and the lawn.”
Mr Prisk said the situation had reached desperation point for residents hit by the flying foxes.
“There are so many here then there were before and the basic thing is we want them moved on,” he said.
Council has started work on its management plan with the removal of non-native trees to create a buffer zone near two residential homes and Paradise Tourist Park and will roll-out an education program.
Council secured a $50,000 grant to carry out the work and has said more work in the future would be reliant on further grants