Not everyone loves the bats; 'Filthy, noisy little dears'

In response to the online comment from Ben ("Pity the bats", from Kareela bats' days numbered, December 4).

Ben, are you for real?

I have lived in the area for 39 years, which of course is a lot longer than the bats who relocated to Kareela.

Do you honestly rate human well-being to be less than that of the flying fox?

You are most welcome to live in my house when the tree I am only allowed to trim is in fruit and frequented by bats, and continually clean up the filthy mess they create on a daily basis.

I am not against the bats but do not believe they belong anywhere in areas around schools and houses.

The filthy, noisy little dears should be relocated to the national park with plenty of vegetation and little disturbance.

'Remove flying foxes'

Barry Collier, Miranda MP

When it comes to the Kareela flying fox colony (Leader, December 4) and the clear, present danger the "bats" present to the well-being of the vulnerable children attending the adjacent facilities, the solution is obvious to all — except, it seems, to our mayor.

Rather than the ill-directed $415,000 spending proposals, mayor Johns would better serve these children by moving to get rid of the colony once and for all.

Instead, as his mayoral minute (December ) shows, Councillor Johns wants to go back to stage 1 of council's failed "plan of management" — spending $100,000 on "tall fencing and nets over play areas". Just how these will stop bat excrement falling into school and therapy play areas, and just who will remove dead bats caught in the netting, are mysteries yet to be solved.

We moved beyond stage 1 over six months ago. After I raised the issue in Parliament and led a bipartisan delegation to the Environment Minister, the state government approved the establishment of the 20-metre buffer zone we see at Kareela now. That was stage 2.

But the buffer has not produced the results we had hoped for, with the bats returning in numbers, further putting our vulnerable children at risk.

Mayor Johns's idea of clearing 65 per cent of the vegetation won't solve the problem in the long run.

We need to move urgently to stage 3: dispersal of the colony itself. If that means removing all the vegetation to protect our special needs children, then so be it. And yes, it can be done.

The state's draft plan of management and government policy allow for dispersal, especially in cases like Kareela.

On November 28, I wrote to the minister seeking dispersal and to the mayor offering my assistance with that. I am yet to hear from Cr Johns.

The mayor needs to get on with it now by making an urgent application to the minister for dispersal.