Noosa Today - 11th February 2016

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Phone: 5455 6946 | noosa.starcommunity.com.au | facebook.com/noosatoday

Issue 197 | Thursday, 11 February, 2016

Real Estate Lifestyle Noosa’s Wee

kly Real Esta

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te Guide 11 February, 2016

That’s the nipper spirit WILD weather couldn’t dampen the Noosa Nipper spirit as the Under 8 to 10 teams battled it out at the Sunshine Coast Branch Surf Life Saving Championships held at Redcliffe on the weekend. At the end of a long day, Noosa’s young nippers managed to finish in the top five in every age group for almost every event. This showed the depth of the team and what the club can expect in years to come. Parents and volunteers were all on hand to set up, officiate, manage the teams and pack up. This is no easy task given the distances travelled and the number of nippers participating. This weekend will see the branch titles underway at Dicky Beach for Under 11 to14 nippers and the club is hoping these older groups make a similar great showing in Caloundra.

Going in to bat By MEGAN OGLE COUNCILLOR Tony Wellington has hit back at claims that Noosa Council is ignoring the Wallace Park bat problem after numerous letters to the editor were received by Noosa Today. Cr Wellington said that while the numbers of bats had increased in the area it was due to the seasonal influx of migratory little red flying foxes. Cr Wellington referred to one letter in particular written by Tewantin resident Kay Fielden who said that his suggested solution to the problem was “for residents to install double glazed windows and doors to keep out the smell and noise of the bats dangling from their gutters”.

“Residents are kept awake every night by the screeching of bats jostling for places on the branches of trees in Wallace Park and by the stench that emits from them,” Ms Fielden wrote. Cr Wellington said his suggestion was in line with an independent report into the problem as well as Brisbane City Council. “Kay takes me to task because I once mentioned double glazing windows as a means of minimising impact from the colony,” he said. “This suggestion appears in the independent report Noosa Council commissioned from experts Ecosure. “Brisbane City Council also recommends this to their many residents

living beside flying fox colonies.” Cr Wellington also said that Brisbane City Council, which had more than 30 flying fox camps, had a policy of non-interference following the failure of previous dispersal attempts over a 23 year period. “A scientific analysis of dispersal attempts between 1990 and 2013 found that there was not a single case where the dispersed animals abandoned the area,” he said. Cr Wellington said recent reports in the media of attempts by Sunshine Coast Council to move a colony at Coolum have revealed abject failure showing that dispersal “doesn’t work”. “At a cost of many hundreds of

thousands of dollars, they succeeded in creating a new camp nearby and the original camp has been repeatedly recolonised,” he said. “I appreciate that some residents are frustrated with the impact of the Wallace Park colony.” “I do not question that the smell, odour and droppings are offensive to some. However I have also received emails from nearby residents who are happy to live near the camp.” Cr Wellington said Ms Fielden’s suggestions that “all councils throughout Australia” take a different view to Noosa Council is incorrect and said some councils, such as Toowoomba, now aim to educate residents rather than attempt expensive and futile dispersals.

Cr Wellington said Ms Fielden’s calls for the next Noosa Council to act on this issue are pointless because it will face the same higher government hurdles as the current council. “The Wallace Park site, because it contains grey-headed flying fox, which are classified as “vulnerable”, is now a nationally important colony,” he said. “Under Federal legislation, this further limits what actions council can take, no matter who is elected. “Noosa Council is committed to a range of actions to increase the buffer between the camp and the closest houses. “But this action can only be taken when State and Federal dictates plus local conditions allow.”

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