2017-03-07 Planning & Environment Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                                       7 MARCH 2017


Similarly, residents identified that their level of satisfaction with Council’s management of the
conflict was 2.37 out of 10. Since greater focus was provided since October 2016, this
satisfaction rating has risen to 7.03 out of 10 at present. Furthermore, the provision of the
subsidised services program was given a rating of 7.58 out of 10 for resident satisfaction.
Residents were also asked to comment on whether the appointment of a Flying Fox
Management Officer responsible for managing the conflict and be a point-of-contact was
beneficial. Of the twenty respondents, 95% of respondents claimed that this had provided a
positive change, with 70% strongly agreeing with the statement and only one person claiming it
made no change.
When asked whether they were satisfied with the current level of communication with Council
about flying-foxes, 90% of respondents agreed with the statement, with 35% of all respondents
strongly agreeing.
Many respondents also provided feedback suggesting that greater vegetative manipulation was
required to reduce canopy connectivity or understorey density to discourage roosting in some
areas. It is recommended that further investigation should be undertaken into the impacts of
understorey management on flying-fox distribution, should the SDS not appropriately alleviate the
concerns of nearby residents.

                                                             Resident Feedback
                    9.00

                    8.00

                    7.00

                    6.00
     Rating Given




                    5.00

                    4.00

                    3.00

                    2.00

                    1.00

                    0.00
                           Previous impact of FF Current impact of FF    Previous level of      Current level of Level of satisfaction w
                                on lifestyle         on lifestyle     satisfaction w Council satisfaction w Council subsidy program
                                                                               mgmt                   mgmt
                                                                         Question Type


Figure 4- Feedback from residents on current and previous satisfaction with flying fox management



6.                  MANAGEMENT COSTS
The Flying-Fox Management Officer's role is to implement the key recommendations of the
Ecosure Management Options Report. These are to trial a sprinkler system to 'nudge' the flying-
foxes away from residential areas and deliver a subsidy program to mitigate the impacts of
Flying-foxes for neighbours (droppings and smell).




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