State and federal legislation will need to change for Yetman’s flying fox colony problem to be fully addressed, Inverell Shire councillors decided in their Wednesday meeting.
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A colony of the bats have historically roosted along the Macintyre River in the small community south of Tamworth, but this time they seem unlikely to move on.
According to Inverell Councillor Kate Dight, a Yetman resident, the colony of Grey-headed Flying Foxes has grown to around two million.
“It’s a huge colony,” she said. “It’s affecting the residents, it’s affecting the whole town.”
Mrs Dight said locals were living with bat excretions on the streets, strong odors and a number of health risks as a result of the camp.
Director of civil and environmental services Brett McInnes gave the council an update after an inspection from an Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) senior operations officer.
Mr McInnes noted that as the colony live on Crown land, the council must negotiate with the Department of Industry, Lands and Forestry if they wish to modify any vegetation. A Crown lands officer will inspect the site on Monday.
Councillor Mal Peters noted that the flying foxes status as vulnerable under the NSW OEH creates further complications for the council, who are restricted in their mitigation measures under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.
Although the OEH left the council with a list of possible mitigation measures including water quality testing, the installation of first flush systems, covered walkways to the school and tree lopping; Mr McInnes argued that the costs involved in dispersing the colonies were unrealistic.
He said the current legislation which required the local council to take the lead in addressing the issue was inadequate, and that state agencies have better resources to manage bat camps.
Cr Dight moved that the council discuss the matter with Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall to seek further advice from OEH. The motion was passed.
“The community needs to ask Adam Marshall, what the hell’s the state government going to do about this - because it’s their problem,” Cr Peters said.
The council also agreed to call for a review of the legislation on bat management at the next local government NSW conference.
Mr Peters suggested the council discusses the EPBC Act with deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce in future.