2015-07-21 Planning & Organisation Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                      21 JULY 2015


8                        WALLACE PARK FLYING FOXES
DOCUMENT INFORM AT ION




Author                              Principal Environment Officer, Peter Milne
                                    Planning & Infrastructure Department

Index                               ECM / Subject / Fauna / Wildlife

Attachments                         Nil


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Not applicable.

RECOMMENDATION
That Council note the report by the Principal Environment Officer to the Planning & Organisation
Committee Meeting dated 21 July 2015 and:
A.                       Engage an experienced consultant to develop a site based Flying Fox Management Plan
                         for Wallace Park Bushland Reserve and allocate $7,000 for its preparation at the next
                         budget review; and
B.                       Report the Flying Fox Management recommendations to a future Council meeting.


REPORT
Wallace Park Bushland Reserve is managed by Council’s Civil Operations-Natural Areas Team.
Council’s Environment Services (ES) Team also provides policy and planning support in relation
to the management of flying foxes in the Wallace Park Bushland Reserve. The ES Team also
currently responds to customer requests concerning flying foxes in Bushland Reserves, on behalf
of Natural Areas.

On the 26 June 2014, Council resolved to undertake the following flying fox management actions:
                       Continue to monitor the Wallace Park flying fox population;
                       Provide information on flying foxes to residents on request and through fact sheets;
                       Widen buffers between the flying fox colony and residents; and
                       Provide a dead or dying bat collection service

1.                       Monitoring of the Wallace Park Flying Fox Colony

Currently, ES informally monitors the Wallace Park colony on a weekly basis and the Department
of Environment and Heritage monitors the colony on a monthly basis.

In 2015, monitoring of the camp indicated that:
                       In February 2015, a large number of Little-Red Flying Foxes camped at Wallace Park and
                         left after several weeks.
                       Following this, Black and Grey-Headed flying fox numbers gradually increased, peaking in
                         number in May/June 2015. At the same time there was mass Melaleuca paperbark tree
                         flowering.
                       Flying fox numbers are now declining again as a consequence of local Melaleuca flowering
                         ceasing.



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