What about our rights? Protected roost has ratepayers asking questions
A LARGE flying fox colony reported to average 80,000 creatures is making plenty of noise in an otherwise quiet corner of Hillview.
Ratepayers on Hillview Station Road feel trapped in their own homes by the Widgee Creek Roost, which is mostly on private property, but it does not look like the bats are going anywhere soon.
Flying foxes, which play a role as pollinators for many native plant species, are protected under Queensland’s nature conservation laws.
The Scenic Rim Regional Council labels the roost as ‘high conflict’ and ‘contentious’ in its Flying Fox Management Strategy 2023-2028.
Council says the continuously occupied roost has expanded in recent years to the west following Widgee Creek and that it is ‘unknown’ when it was first established.
‘Please help us’
Luke Moorhead, Stacey Bell and children Benjamin, 2, Haylee, 4, and Riley, 17, live next to the roost.
Every morning before she can let the small children out to play, Stacey inspects the yard for fallen bats – alive and dead.
They spend $2,500 on drinking water every year because the bats make their rainwater unusable, and they have to constantly scrape bat faeces off their solar panels.
The sound of bats is inescapable even in the quieter months, and the situation is significantly impacting their mental health.
The other side of the roost, fellow ratepayers Peter and Kerry Geraghty tell a similar story.
The nature lovers from Brisbane bought their slice of Hillview as a weekender in 1994 after falling in love with the Scenic Rim.
They created a sanctuary so beautiful it was even a destination for O’Reilly’s Bird Week.
Now, they say the bats have infested the place with weeds and are destroying glossy black cockatoo habitat.
Like Luke and Stacey, the Geraghtys cannot use their rainwater or hang clothes on the line to dry.
Their keep their windows shut against the stench and mess of bat faeces and they see no point in doing jobs like repainting their house.
“We’ve got the impacts of the faeces, the mental health, the noise, the smell and all that comes along with it,” said Luke.
“The mental health impact is significant – Luke will come home after being at work all day, he’s been up during the night because the kids can’t sleep because of the bats, he is at the point of breakdown,” said Stacey.
For the bats
On the gate to the private property where most of the bat roost resides, hangs a sign which says, ‘Property sponsored by The Rescue Collective’, alongside signs warning of video surveillance and guard dogs.
When the Beaudesert Bulletin contacted The Rescue Collective Founding President Nicole Blums, she said the charity does not own the Hillview property but supports bat rescue work carried out there.
“We exist to support licensed carers of wildlife and domestic companion rescue across Australia,” she said.
“They have to be licensed, permanent, legitimately on board with the Department of Primary Industries and things like that, and there is one of those people who obviously lives within that Hillview sanctuary.”
The group has loudly advocated for the Hillview roost on Facebook, including via a campaign to ‘save’ the colony when the property went on the market and they feared a ‘non-bat lover’ would move in.
In January 2024 the group posted the colony was ‘safe, sold, secure, Council supported and still in the family’.
The Bulletin asked Nicole about the campaign and if the group was aware neighbouring ratepayers were feeling impacted by the roost.
“We are aware. Are you aware they are an endangered species, that the colony is protected by the Department, and we have them on our side as well as the Council to ensure that colony stays protected?” she said.
“We work according to that – we don’t work according to how neighbours feel or personal preference. We work with the Department and according to the Department’s standards and we are in contact with them, Council and all of the regulatory bodies to make sure we are always doing the right thing.
“At the end of the day, we’re there for the wildlife.”
People first?
Luke and Stacey, Peter and Kerry are adamant they were around before the Hillview roost, and only noticed bats moving in about 10 years ago.
In 1998, Luke’s father sold the property where the bats now live as a cleared block, where he used to run cattle and grow pumpkins.
Fast forward to today, and the previously bare property is heavily forested with trees full of flying fox species which rescuers claim have historic ties to the area.
Nicole said the history of the roost was in Widgee Creek.
“From the studies, flying foxes have been going there for at least 100 years,” she said.
“That creek line has always had good forestation and it was primarily a migrational camp … but as the world has changed, heaps more trees have been cut, heaps more farms have been established in the Scenic Rim, and it has pushed more bats into the area.
“The combination of the property becoming a jungle and increased farming and land clearing in the Scenic Rim has made it a perfect place for bats to want to be.”
Question time
Division Three Councillor Steve Moriarty reported in early February that he had taken the matter to State Member Jon Krause and Mr Krause had raised the matter with Environment Minister Andrew Powell.
Mr Krause said people must come first.
“From my perspective the health and wellbeing of residents must always come first when we’re talking about issues like this,” he said.
The Bulletin made an enquiry to the Minister, asking what rights landholders have when impacted by a flying fox roost on adjoining private property and how he responded to the matter as raised by Mr Krause.
The Minister did not comment specifically about the Hillview situation but provided a statement by a Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation spokesperson, pointing to funding allocated for roosts at Canungra and Rathdowney.
“The Queensland Government is working with local councils to support projects to manage flying foxes, including a recent grant of $71,000 for roost management actions within Scenic Rim Council,” the statement read.
“We are committed to managing urban flying fox roosts in a way that balances protecting these animals which are vital for our ecosystems while also managing community impacts.
“Low-impact, non-lethal activities such as mowing or limited tree trimming to mitigate the impact of flying foxes on private properties are provided for within Queensland’s nature conservation laws. Private landholders otherwise require a flying fox roost management permit to undertake approved activities to manage flying foxes within a declared roost.”
What now?
Cr Moriarty told the Bulletin he would chase the matter up again and that Council continued to advocate for impacted residents.
The ratepayers of Hillview said change was desperately needed.
“I think there needs to be common sense legislative change, to allow bat colonies to be removed from urban areas where they have an enormous impact,” said Peter.
“We should have rights to move the bats out of our property or for someone skilled to come do it,” said Kerry.
“We desperately need Council to help us,” said Stacey.
