A GROUP of Witta residents are at their wits end over a growing bat colony which has taken residence, resulting in major headaches for residents including the inability to sell property and noise and smell for up to eight months a year.
Neighbours affected by the colony at the end of Gumland Drive have made pleas to the state government and met over the weekend to discuss their options.
Residents have created the Witta Bat Action Group in an attempt to get local or state government assistance.
Parkland Court resident and group member Keith Haley said the flying foxes were having a negative impact on neighbours’ lives for months at a time.
“The main problem is the noise and the smell at the moment, during summer nobody can have their windows open, and if the wind is blowing in certain directions, you have to have the house shut up all day,” he said.
Adding to their concerns was advice from real estate agents that affected homes would be priced at below market value purely due to the roost.
Keith stressed that they do not want to relocate the flying foxes in a dangerous way, and reiterated residents are animal lovers.
“We’re not wildlife haters, we have actually kept bees for four years, and we haven’t just turned up from the city and started whinging, we have lived here for eight years and others have lived here longer,” he said.
“We are considering the most harm free techniques of moving the roost along such as light towers, as flying foxes are deterred by light but it won’t hurt them in any way.”
The group is aware they will face backlash for their plans to divert the roost away and said they have tried to get council and state support to help them with the issue.
“The council keeps telling us, because the trees the flying foxes are on, are on private property, they can’t do anything without the owners approval,” they said.
“But most of us own our homes and we are giving them permission to do something, but they won’t.
“The Department of Environment and Science say they can’t help either because the council has funds and the ability to help move roosts.”
Residents believe there could be as many as 25,000 flying foxes in their two streets, however this is just an estimation.
Resident Jean McRuvie said the colony had grown to five times its size in recent years and in a letter to locals said that as a result there was now “very high levels of noise, destruction of trees and the potential for the value of all affected properties to drop”.
“While I recognise that many of you were happy with the bats when they first arrived, I suspect that some of you are now concerned about the increased adverse impacts of this growing problem and would like to see the bats relocated,” Jean wrote.
“It has become obvious that the Council and the Department of Environment and Science (DES) will not provide any assistance as the bats are roosting on private land.
“The only way that the bats can be relocated is if the whole neighbourhood works together without their assistance.
“A wildlife officer from the DES has provided some suggested methods which may work but these will not be effective if only one or two properties undertake them.”
A Department of Environment response to concerned residents said that it was the responsibility of the council.
In a response to a resident, the council said that due to the roost being on private property that it was effectively the responsibility of the property owner to implement a roost management plan.
Images courtesy of: Marsha Fotografie
