Flying fox fix will test council

CAIRNS Regional Council is caught between a rock and a hard place.

A commissioned report recommends that the only way to effectively disperse the flying fox population from around the City Library is to cut down their roosting trees.

The trouble is that the trees are heritage listed so they can’t be touched.

The report, compiled by Cairnsbased environmental consultancy NRA, says that the Cairns Central Swamp would be a suitable relocation site for the flying foxes, but it was unlikely they would stay there long.

They would then move to other established flying fox colonies, such as Mount Sheridan and Gordonvale, or other new locations rather than the swamp, it says.

It would be shifting the problem and create more problems by the sheer size of the colonies, the report’s authors say.

The only way to remove the bats permanently would be to cut down trees around the library. It would leave the area bereft of “all the tall, leafy trees in nearby parks and the streetscape”.

But it can’t be done because of the heritage status.

The bats split the community. Many residents hate the smell, the noise and the damage their droppings do, especially to vehicle paintwork.

Others, including tourists, delight in the dusk and dawn migration, especially near nightfall when they head out to feed.

The report recommends dispersing the bats to the swamp after the plan receives approval.

No doubt the greenies will try to stop any such action.

Nick Dalton

Deputy editor