Mount Isa City Council has approved a plan to move the troublesome fruit bats away from the cemetery.
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At Wednesday's meeting Council approved recommendations from its little red flying fox camp management plan to move the migrating bat colony to a new roost near the Sewage Treatment Plant.
It follows $100,000 funding last year from the state government to examine the problem with dealing with the protected species which migrate to Mount Isa in large numbers every October.
According to the plan's executive summary read out by motion mover Cr Paul Stretton the flying foxes cause emotional distress and public healt nuisances to the community.
He said the feasibility study recommended the alternative roost be established near Sewage Treatment Plant.
He was supported by Cr George Fortune who said the plan was long time coming and a priority for the community.
The plan was passed 5-1 with Cr Phil Barwick absent and Cr Kim Coghlan voting against it.
Though she didn't speak to the motion she told the North West Star the move was a waste of time and the bats needed to be partially culled.
"How are we going to move them?" she said.
Because their habitat is threatened in built up areas, they are a protected species under the Nature Conservation Act 1992.
However the noise, the smell and the droppings can be a problem for people that live nearby.
The Mount Isa cemetery has long been a favourite annual roost and Council has been working with the state government and CSIRO into strategies to manage the problem.
A trial of sprinklers in 2018 failed and this year Mount Isa City Council has closed the main entrance to the cemetery to avoid disturbing the roosts and visitors must take a side entrance from Commercial Rd.
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