CONCERNS RAISED: Kai, 5, and Braidy Ackerman, 9, could not use the swing in the park as flying foxes have taken over the trees in the main street of Miriam Vale.
LOCALS say yes, visitors say no, to council's decision to attempt the dispersal of flying foxes roosting in Miriam Vale's main street.
Gladstone City Council has advised Miriam Vale residents it will seek to disperse the thousand-strong roost of little red flying foxes from Alf Larson Park, starting on Wednesday, October 11, between 3-7am.
The dispersal is subject to approval by the Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage Protection.
A council spokesperson said they expect to receive the advice from EHP on Monday or Tuesday.
The bat dispersal process involves using strobe lights and ProScare pyrotechnics.
With products like CrackerShell, JetScreamer and Xploda, listed on the ProScare website, you can bet the bats and the community are in for a noisy time.
Many residents will be happy to see the bats go. They think the state-of-the-art playground, designed to attract tourists, is losing out.
The roosting bats have seen council shutdown one swing at the park but the rest of the playground remains accessible.
Tracey Smith works at the cafe directly across the road from Alf Larson Park.
"The bats are very unhygienic, they make a lot of noise, they don't do much for the town itself," she said.
"I think it turns a lot of people away. I have seen a few people out there taking photos and interested in them but the majority of people, no they don't like it,"
Rosie Cooper, of Noosa, was undeterred; she stopped off at the park with her partner and kids for a break in the trip.
"The park - it's perfect, I'd pick it up myself and take it home, it's really well designed," she said, watching her two boys play.
"I'm mindful when we did pull up, I said you need to walk down the street and across the road (because of the bats)."
She was was concerned about the lack of signage, letting travellers know the park was here.
Alex Sadler lives on Lowmead Road, just out of town.
"Just seeing them here now, why would you put up with that sh*t? There's sh*t everywhere, they're making a hell of a mess, the kids can get a disease from the bloody things," he said.
Mr Sadler thinks the council's plan to disperse the bats is a "great idea".
"They only need to do it a couple of times and then they'll move onto another area," he said.
A spokesperson from Wildlife Queensland says "it's been shown time and time again, frequently when they disperse them, all they are doing is creating a problem somewhere else for another lot of people.
"Down at the Gold Coast, the council had a major problem with one (roost), they actually removed the entire trees over time, every night when they flew out. What they've ended up with are at least four different camps now, where people are complaining.
"They're not the only council to have difficulties, a lot of it is simply because (the bats') natural habitat has been cleared."
Council acknowledges the dispersal may be unsuccessful, but have chosen to attempt it nonetheless.
On the question of disease, which appears to be one of the chief concerns of locals, the Wildlife Queensland spokesperson said: "flying foxes do carry viruses, but the likelihood of people being infected is extremely remote.
"There's more people killed annually with faulty car jacks".
"You can't get Hendra straight from a flying fox, it has to go through a horse, with Lyssavirus, you've got to have a scratch or a bite."
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