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FREE I Phone: 5442 6699 I Email: editorial@cooroyrag.com.au I 13 April 2022 Colony driving residents batty

BY ALEX PURCELL

FLYING foxes roosting behind Cooroy’s aged care facility, Kabara, are causing angst for in-care residents and neighbours.

NoosaCare Chief Operating Officer Jamie Oakley said the colony moved in almost two months ago creating an “unbearable amount of noise and smell” on a daily basis, and that there was nothing the business would be able to do about it.

“They are right on our fence line and they are horrendously noisy and they stink," Mr Oakley said. "We had Noosa Council come out and they said there is nothing we can do. We can’t move them on.

“They’ve obviously been displaced elsewhere, because we have been told they are a black or grey variety that doesn’t move around very much. So they are here to stay.”

Mr Oakley said out of 81 residents, only two haven’t complained.

“Majority of the residents find them distressing. In fact, the bats were raised at the last resident meeting, with many concerned about the noise and their droppings.”

Concerned resident Lisa Lister, who lives nearby on Topaz Street, said that someone has to do something.

“Bats have a right to be wherever they choose to nest and that’s probably true to some extent but I’m up at 4am in the morning because they start to squawk, and then they’re noisy all day until they fly off around 6.30pm," Ms Lister said.

“They’re a bother to me and yet I can run away from it during the day to work. The residents of Kabara can’t and the bats live right behind these poor people.

“Someone needs to do something. "The two most vulnerable groups of people are our children and our elderly.

“I’m for the environment but within reason. The bats don’t belong behind an aged care facility.”

Noosa Council Acting Environmental Services Manager Shaun Walsh said flying foxes are an important and protected fauna species in the Noosa Biosphere.

“Council's environment team is aware of the Cooroy colony and is in the process of visiting the site," Mr Walsh said.

“Council does not currently have a management plan in place for this colony, but we have submitted a grant application to prepare a management plan as part of the recently closed funding round. The State recently funded management plans for colonies at Kin Kin and Wallace Park and Council looks forward to positive consideration by the State Government for this new flying fox colony.”

Member for Nicklin Robert Skelton said some residents had raised concerns about the flying fox colony with him and he has been in touch with Noosa Council to see what they could do about it.

“Under legislation, councils can manage these sites without the need for a permit from the Environment Department,” Mr Skelton said.

A Department of Environment and Science spokesperson said they were

Kabara staff Debbie Nelson and Rob Valanta with residents of the aged care facility beseiged by a colony of flying foxes (below). Pictures: Travis Macfarlane

aware of the flying fox roost behind Kabara and had provided advice to Noosa shire council about ongoing management issues, including information to support the development and implementation of a flying fox roost management plan.

“The Noosa shire council has an as-of-right authority to manage flying fox roosts in Urban Flying-Fox Management Areas, with management activities limited to non-lethal methods and carried out according to a strict code of practice.

“This allows local governments to make roost management decisions that best meet the needs and expectations of their communities, without needing a permit from the Department.”

“Under its as-of-right authority, Council has a number of options at its disposal, including destroying a roost, driving flying foxes away from a roost, or moving flying foxes within a roost by using water sprinklers, floodlighting, or tree trimming, to create a ‘buffer’ between flying foxes and sensitive sites.

“The Council is not compelled to exercise its as-of right-authority, and Noosa Shire Council has not notified DES that it intends to conduct as-of-right authority activities, or has a flying fox roost management plan in place for the Cooroy site.”

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INSIDE THIS EDITION

GemLife remains committed to plans for Cooroy.............4

Date is set for play..............5

New supermarket proposal for Eumundi........................6

Fresh track for King of the Mountain 2022....................7

Von Blanckensee's farewell fourth generation local .......8

Pub takes a break but will come back in better shape .9

Town digs deep for golf club raffle................................. 10

Orchids make a blooming good gift for Mum............. 11

Business News........... 12-14

What's On and social photos for March .....................15-23

Sport................................ 24

Community notes..............25

Schools....................... 26-27

Your Say.......................... 28

Election 2022................... 29

Classifieds........................31

Trades & Services ...... 32-33

Puzzle.............................. 35

Real Estate................. 36-44

Flying foxes moving in on care facility

Continued from page 1

Mr Oakley said that Council has engaged a specialist to come and see the colony, but he did not hold any hope of a solution being found.

“The bats are half on our land and half on state land so again, Council says it is not their problem.”

“We’ve been told that we can get in as close to our building as possible and remove foliage, but have to apply for a permit.

“At our Tewantin facility, Carramar, we recently built a new building. We had to remove foliage on the property for the build and a few days beforehand a bat colony moved in.

“We had to apply for a licence from Brisbane to move them on. It was very costly and it was approved because we had these plans to build. But because we’re not building at Kabara, we can’t apply.

“We’re between a rock and a hard place. We’d like to see them moved on in a way that is considerate to the flying foxes.”

The DES spokesperson said that landowners who can demonstrate they were suffering economic loss or health or wellbeing impacts from flying foxes can apply to DES for a damage mitigation permit to manage them.

“Members of the public can conduct low-impact activities at roosts according to the ‘Code of Practice’ such as mulching, mowing watering, or weeding under or near roost trees, minor trimming of roost trees, and installation, maintenance and removal of infrastructure," they said.

“Members of the public, corporate bodies such as schools, and body corporates, may also apply for a Flying Fox Roost Management Permit to manage flying fox roosts on their own properties under the code of practice."

Operating outside of the code of practice was not authorised, and may have legal consequences.

“Flying foxes play a vital role in dispersing seeds and pollinating flowering plants and are crucial to keeping native forests healthy," the spokesperson said. "Pollen sticks to their furry bodies and as they crawl from flower to flower, and fly from tree to tree, they pollinate the flowers and aid in the production of honey.

“They are protected animals under the Nature Conservation Act 1992, and it is an offence to deliberately take, injure, interfere with roosts, keep or use them without authorisation.”

But for Mr Oakley and Ms Lister, the question is who is more important: flying foxes or our elderly?

“Our aged should be a protected species too,” Ms Lister said.

DES is delivering a $2 million, four-year grant program to local councils to support the management of flying fox roosts. All councils are eligible to apply for grants.

While Round Three of the program has recently closed, Mr Skelton said he would like to see Noosa Council put its hand up for the next round.

BOUQUETS AND BRICKBATS

BOUQUET to the staff at Cooroy Computers. I had a technical problem with my phone and they fixed it straight away. Excellent service offered to our town of Cooroy. Thank you so much!

BOUQUET to the kindness of this town called Cooroy. A day visit turned out very special thanks to Jamaica Blue staff.

BRICKBAT to “Cash for Cans “ now insisting on bank account details and not giving cash , not all recyclers have fancy phones with bank account details.

BRICKBAT to a Parks and Wildlife Ranger at Boreen Point for attempting to move on a legally parked visitor enjoying a cuppa by the lake. You have no authority to harass people. Not a good way to encourage visitors to our area.

BOUQUET to Carl Painter for his donation of arts and crafts and much-needed gardening tools to Cooroy Primary School. Much appreciated Carl.

BOUQUET to all of the local businesses who have dug deep and offered up a wide range of prizes for the Cooroy Golf Club's raffle to raise money for course repairs after the recent floods. Well done!

BOUQUET to everyone who is working hard behind the scenes to help create the wide range of Easter parades and Easter Bonnet fun for our children this year.

Cooroy Pomona RSL's Anzac Day Services 2022

AFTER thousands attended last year’s dawn service and march in Cooroy on April 25, the Cooroy Pomona RSL Sub Branch is hoping just as many will attend their Anzac Day 2022 services.

Cooroy Pomona RSL Sub Branch president Patricia Gleeson said it is “always wonderful to get as many people as possible to attend our service and street march”.

This year’s service begins with the dawn service at 4.45am at the Cenotaph on Diamond Street, Cooroy followed by the traditional gunfire breakfast at Cooroy RSL at 6am for $5 per person.

The Anzac Day March in Maple Street will form up at Cooroy Library car park at 10am and step off at 10.30am. This will be followed by a service in the Cooroy Memorial Hall at 11am and lunch at Cooroy RSL at 12pm.

RAG CONTACTS

OFFICE Phone: 5442 6699 EDITORIAL Alex Purcell editorial@cooroyrag.com.au ADVERTISING Judy Painter advertising@cooroyrag.com.au PRODUCTION Geoff Crockett / Kristina Tindall production@cooroyrag.com.au ADMINISTRATION Jodi Brennan admin@cooroyrag.com.au

Every 3 weeks, 7500 copies of the Cooroy Rag are distrubuted throughout our community to Tewantin, Doonan, Eumundi, Noosaville, Boreen Point, Imbil, Gympie, Cooroy and Pomona

“ We genuinely give a SHED!”

Reluctant soldier fights for recognition

BY ALEX PURCELL

HE calls himself a reluctant soldier because he went to a place he didn't want to go and did a job he didn’t want to do.

For 11 years, Cooroy’s Allan Price served his country in a national service unit, helping with flood and fire relief in Australia before heading to Malaya during the Malayan Emergency, and later, Maralinga.

But it was his time at Maralinga that cost him one of the most important things, his health.

Today, Allan suffers from numerous health concerns. He believes they are the result of his time at Maralinga and the work he did there. And all he wants is recognition.

“Years ago I went to the doctor and said I believe my health issues are because I served at Maralinga and he said, ‘What’s that?’”

Maralinga, in western South Australia, was the site of nuclear tests by the British Government during the 1950s and 1960s.

“I found myself in Maralinga in January 1960. Australians were the ground troops, with the English controlling them. We were called the colonials and we were treated as such,” Allan said.

Allan has signed three secrecy acts so he has to be careful about what he can and can’t say.

“One time we were burying material. With equipment, we dug a hole and lined it with concrete. We put a big wooden crate in there and lined it with lead sheet and again with sheets of glass and we stood in that box in the pit, in shorts, boots and hat, and were handed boxes by some of the boffins, all of whom were wearing hot suits and respirators,” he said.

“And me with my cheekiness said, ‘What are we handling? Why are you wearing hot suits and why aren’t we wearing something protective? And they said, ‘Just do as you’re told. You’re here to work, not ask questions’.”

“I said, ‘I’m curious, what are we handling?’ and they said, ‘We’re in hot suits for the simple reason that if one of these boxes happens to fall, we can handle it without any problems.

“I said, ‘So in other words, the material is hot?’ and they said, ‘Just do your work’.”

“So we boxed it all up, put a sheet of glass across the top and puttied it up, and with a big sheet of lead soldered it all together, then put a wooden lid on the top and then covered it with concrete.”

“What were they burying? Toothpicks? "Later on they made comment that over the years they never even buried anything at Maralinga. I have photographs of the burial pits.”

Allan spent four months at Maralinga and was present for six tests.

“They claim there were 12 bombs. A bomb is something dropped from an aircraft or hung from a balloon. But there were quite a number of those pieces of apparatus where they left the casing off them, so that they couldn't call them a bomb. I wasn’t there for the big bombs, the ones that cause the big mushroom cloud. The big ones were equivalent to 50,000 tonnes of TNT. "The smaller ones, which were only equivalent to 50 tonnes or 100 tonnes, still make a big bang. But the material wasn’t dispersed in such a large area. "The big bombs atomised everything, and put it up in a big cloud that was dispersed down the wind pattern. "The smaller ones didn’t atomise, but were reduced down to small pellets, the size of split peas and only dispersed over a 500m circumference area. "That was pure plutonium and cobalt and quite dangerous. We weren't told. "We had a number of safety talks but we didn’t really get the information necessary to practise self-preservation.”

Allan said he first started making waves about Maralinga because of his health concerns. "We screamed long and loud to get recognition for our service so we could receive health benefits. "About eight years ago our service at Maralinga was recognised by John Howard. He gave us a medallion before the elections.”

Allan's health concerns include leukemia, macular degeneration, arthritis and respiratory issues. Yet, as debilitating as they are, he is thankful that he is alive.

“With the Australian servicemen, Navy, Army, Airforce and civilian contractors, collectively there were around 50,000 who went there. Out of the many servicemen who were there, only about 300 are still alive. I touch wood that I am one of them.

“We’re not looking for monetisation, but recognition and justice regarding our health.

Allan said that he had had considerable trouble dealing with authorities regarding his service in Maralinga.

“First they refused to accept I was even there. I had to produce three affidavits to eventually convince them,” he said.

A spokesperson from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs said any veteran who had health concerns due to participation in British Nuclear Testing, including at Maralinga, should contact the Department of Veterans’ Affairs for support.

The spokesperson said the Veteran Gold Card was available to ADF members and certain civilians who served at Maralinga if they were able to meet a range of criteria.

Cooroy's Allan Price, pictured as a young soldier, is fighting for justice regarding ongoing health concerns he believes are the result of his time at Maralinga and the work he did there.

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