Council advises the Department of Environment and Science (DES) have engaged Contractors, Ecosure, to undertake flying-fox dispersal activities in Lissner Park, commencing from Tuesday, 14 July 2020.
Dispersal activities will take place approximately 4:00am until 7:00am daily for a period of up to 4 weeks, or so.
The aim of the dispersal is to encourage flying-foxes to relocate from Lissner Park to a new alternative Roost Site at Young’s Block, which was announced as nearly completed by DES earlier this month.
Residents in the area may expect to be impacted by noise, smoke and lighting disturbances during the dispersal.
Charters Towers Regional Council Mayor Frank Beveridge said this long-awaited dispersal of flying-foxes was a significant issue for Charters Towers locals.
“This is a great step forward for the Charters Towers community who have been waiting so long to reclaim their public space.”
“For too long Lissner Park has been overcome by the flying-foxes, denying the community the opportunity to use this beautiful public space and causing significant damage to our trees.”
“It is time for action. We know that flying-foxes play an important environmental role, however, it is critical this relocation successfully removes the flying-foxes from our park.”
That being said, Cr Beveridge said it was important that residents understood that flying-fox relocations are not always quick or smooth.
“As Charters Towers residents know too well, anytime you try to control the behaviour of wild animals the results can be unpredictable.
“Once the dispersal begins, we can’t predict with certainty how the animals will respond to the relocation,” he said.
We will be calling on residents to assist us by being patient throughout the dispersal process.
“The community should have realistic expectations on how noisy this process is, how slow and frustrating it may sometimes be,” Cr Beverage said.
“This could be a very slow process, taking weeks for the initial dispersal,” he said. “Any issues such as flying-foxes entering your property should be directed to the Ecosure Flying-Fox Hotline 0400 714 379.”
Once the flying foxes are relocated, Council will be undertaking measures longer-term to avoid having them return to Lissner Park.
Source: Charters Towers Regional Council