Driving us batty!
In the early hours of Easter Saturday, I attended the Batemans Bay Hospital Emergency Department.
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The first thing my wife and I noticed getting out of our vehicle was the overpowering stench and noise coming from the flying foxes that have invaded the water garden area, in close proximity to the hospital and only a short distance from the CBD.
There were many excrement stains on the pathways; I assume from the many bats that fly over the grounds. Surely, this is not a very healthy environment for sick people?
After a few hours of diligent care and treatment by very capable staff, I left the hospital with the foul smell of bat urine and noise lingering. How do residents close by stand it?
Our beautiful golf course has again been invaded by tens of thousands of these mammals. They are in plague numbers in areas not frequented previously. Many golfers carry umbrellas for fear of being defecated on, when they venture into treed areas to retrieve a ball.
It is time the Eurobodalla Shire Council and/or other authorities relocated these vermin from our beautiful town, instead of just providing clothesline covers and car tarps. These creatures carry diseases and are defecating and urinating on roofs and in waterways. They are driving away birds and wildlife.
If both councillors and MPs think these creatures are endangered, they should experience what our community endures.
Robert Sinclair
Long Beach
And even battier
I live in Pacific Street and recently walked through the Water Gardens, now nothing but a swamp, a cesspool and a mosquito-breeding ground colonised by flying foxes.
The bats have moved closer to High Street, and the road leading to the steps to the timber walkway, the walkway and the path to the museum are covered with droppings. The smell and noise is horrendous. They are in the hospital grounds, are closer to Centrelink, and numbers have grown.
I have lived in Batemans Bay for 40 years, and it has always been a nice place to live. Now anyone near the flying foxes is in living hell. I guess house values have reduced considerably - who in their right mind would buy next to these noisy, stinking animals?
The council put the animals before people, and the offer of car covers and gurneys is a joke. I suggest the swamp be drained, the rubbish, filth and shopping trolleys removed, the area filled in, and a concerted effort made to move the bats on where they can feed and forage, away from houses. Waldron’s Swamp would be ideal.
A class action for compensation for degradation of our living conditions, and financial assistance in helping people relocate may not be too far off.
Michael Barkley
Batemans Bay
Equality or greed?
Gilmore MP Anne Sundamalis: it appears your government is arguing for austerity, with an elitist, unjust policy agenda through the privatisation/deregulation of the public’s services.
The 12-country Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and 50-country Trades in Services Agreement (TiSA) both necessitate a massive privatisation/deregulation and include investor state dispute Settlement (ISDS).
ISDS cedes power to corporations to sue the public, if corporations’ predicted profits are threatened by our local/state/federal laws/regulations; subordinating justice to consolidation of corporate power.
The World Development Movement for Justice for the Poor says “trade agreements are better understood as tools for creating free markets ... where corporations can profit, free from regulation to protect local jobs, companies and services ...”
British social geographer Danny Dorling defines injustice and inequality, justified by the elite, as - elitism is efficient; exclusion is inevitable; prejudice is natural; greed is good; despair inevitable. The elitists’ world view promotes privatisation of education, health, aged care, child care, public utilities, defence housing etc for profits.
NSW elitist Premier Mike Baird has systematically destroyed TAFE. Private providers, many with no experience in education, “compete” against TAFE and “win” public funding at the expense of TAFE teachers’ jobs. Students have been priced out of TAFE.
Where will Australian’s public services, owned by the private sector, whose modus operandi is to boost corporate profits, fit into Prime Minister Turnbull’s “exciting, 21st century, innovative, nimble, agile economy?”
Maureen Searson
Batemans Bay
Drive for safety
I just spent two days at the Moruya Racecourse, helping with the RYDA (Rotary Youth Driver Awareness) program. It is held for year 11 students in Eurobodalla high schools, most of whom are probably just getting their L or P plates.
There were various subjects covered, all teaching young drivers to be safe on our busy roads. The instructors were very professional, and hopefully were able to impart important knowledge. I was impressed with the organisation. Everything went like clockwork.. The Rotary clubs, and their members, put a lot of work into making this program the success it was.
It was not a mandatory course, but at the minimal cost of $10, to cover expenses, (including a delicious lunch provided by Moruya Rotary Club), I think it should be. My congratulations go to the clubs. Anything that can make our roads safer, for all of us, is a wonderful initiative.