MidCoast Council Flying-fox Camp Management Plan
2.7.6
Community reported issues related to the camp
The following list is a collation of the issues related to the Hawks Nest camp that have been reported by the community. Key reported issues include: • • • • • • • • • • • •
odour, particularly following wet conditions or when flying-fox numbers are high. noise as flying-foxes depart or return to the camp noise from the camp during the day and seasonally during the night noise from flying-fox foraging in gardens at residences faecal drop on houses and outdoor areas, roofs that have associated water tanks, cars and washing lines, and associated time spend cleaning areas adjacent to the camp disease concerns to residents and pets health and/or wellbeing impacts (e.g. associated with lack of sleep, anxiety) lifestyle impacts as a result of reduced amenity/smell/disease concerns (e.g. house bound, inability to leave windows open reduced general amenity damage to vegetation impacts on other native animals, particularly birds and Koalas property devaluation.
Council has received only a small number of complaints about the camp, particularly in comparison the camps at Forster. Potential future residential development to the south-west of the camp poses potential emerging issues, with: • •
habitat removal reducing the extent of available roosting habitat, forcing the flying-foxes to roost in proximity to other residents more residents living in proximity to the camp.
2.7.7
Management response to date
Council’s management responses as of March 2021 at the Hawks Nest camp have included: • •
•
responding to community complaints and providing information on flying-foxes, legislative considerations and Council’s actions seasonal flying-fox monitoring four times a year as part of the national flying-fox monitoring program to increase Council’s understand flying-fox use of the camp commencing in May 2019). bush regeneration works, with a focus on weed management.
2.8
Comparison of target camp issues to other NSW camps
The LGNSW Flying-fox Habitat Restoration Program – Camp Mapping (Ecosure 2019) project identified priority camps across NSW for flying-fox camp restoration works. The project included scoring conflicts and flying-fox habitat values of 334 known flying-fox camps in NSW to provide an overall score and ranking. Of the subject camps, the Karloo Street Reserve camp (referred to as Forster in the report) ranked the highest at 47th in the State as a candidate camp for restoration works, followed by the Smiths Lake camp (ranked 107), the Pacific Palms camp (referred to as Elizabeth Beach which ranked 151) and the Hawks Nest camp (ranked 193). The Cocos Crescent camp was not assessed as part of the project due to its recent establishment. However, conflict scores
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