Maclean bat colony in 'too hard basket'

THE colony of grey-headed flying foxes near the Maclean High School won't be going anywhere any time soon.

All three tiers of government have put the problem in the 'too hard basket', with the only hope of a solution coming from a meeting of concerned people on November 4.

The NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC) has called the meeting to discuss long-term answers to the problems that do not involve relocation of the colony.

A department spokesperson said yesterday that attempts to move the bats over the past 10 years had failed and that future solutions had to look at long-term management of the bat colony.

“There is some evidence that attempts to move the bat colony have made matters worse by pushing the colony into other areas that weren't a problem before,” the spokesperson said.

“This could be the situation with the bats that are now in the gully near the school.”

Clarence Valley Council deputy general manager Des Schroder said a solution to the bat problem was beyond the council.

“It's something that's well above our level of expertise,” he said.

“Attempting to move the colony involves a level of personal and corporate risk that we just would not take on.”

He said the current State and Federal legislation covering flying foxes made permits to move flying foxes almost useless - if your organisation was able to get one.

The DECC spokesperson said the proliferation of bats in the Valley was due to the flowering of stringy bark trees in the region.

“Scientists are saying in other areas of north-east NSW and south-east Queensland there are virtually no fruit bats to be found,” he said.

• MEANWHILE, a NSW Department of Education spokesperson said there was nothing to substantiate claims that Maclean High School students had been disturbing bats at the school yesterday.

Department spokesperson Sven Wright said two teachers had been on duty at the time the claims were made and neither saw students aggravating the colony.

“The students have been told that they must not disturb the bats at all,” he said.

“Staff at the school are keeping an eye on things as well.”