They loved the kapok trees and after a feed would crap on our roofs, thereby contaminating our water supply.

Shotguns at dusk solved the problem and also provided the locals with a welcome treat -  flying fox dinner.

We would no doubt get howls from the usual crowd, but these are also the ones who don’t have to endure what is happening to the poor buggers being shat upon from a great height on a daily basis.

Let’s get our priorities sorted!

The council could have saved a lot of time if, instead of discussing bats, it had simply checked bat dispersal on Google.

The Sutherland Shire, Cairns, Maclean, Albury and the botanic gardens in both Sydney and Melbourne have used bat dispersal systems, usually with success. Albury Shire's website shows how it managed it:

“Relocation involves making the gardens an uncomfortable environment for roosting. To achieve this, council will need to create a range of noises at key times of day, namely early mornings (when flying foxes are coming into roost) and dusk (when the flying foxes are dispersing from their roosts). Noises will vary and will include machinery (whipper snippers, blowers and chainsaws), music and loud noises (banging lids, starters pistol and bird-frite).”

Could the council commence a program like this immediately and use the information evening planned for May 16 to announce that they have already put such a program in place?

RE: Amanda Wray’s letter (Bay Post, April 27), I can understand her frustration over the need for council funding to solve the flying fox problem at Batemans Bay.

However, her reference to council funding being used instead for “so-called beautification projects”, such as those at Tuross, is not totally correct.

Various current projects to provide new and upgraded amenities at Tuross have been funded from the net proceeds of the sale of the old Progress Hall land – not from ratepayers’ funds. In the 1950s the community acquired the land and built the hall themselves. 

Amanda Wray’s comment about the “pointless viewing platform” no doubt refers to the upgrading of the lookout at One Tree Point which is on a rocky outcrop. This project will now include a graded path around the side of the lookout to provide much-needed access for those who have difficulty with stairs or are confined to wheelchairs.  As the lookout is listed as an Aboriginal site, the timber decking is being used over the area to avoid more intrusive excavation.

I was one of three community reps on the council Sunset Committee set up to oversee a survey of Tuross residents regarding the sale of the land and the most suitable projects.  

I couldn’t attend the meeting in Batemans Bay as I had to race home from work and cook dinner for my children before the power went out.

For 10 nights and over the past two months I have been experiencing black outs. When I rang council, they told me to ring my power company, “it’s not a council issue”. When I rang the power company, I was told it’s not their issue, it’s the council’s issue due to the bats.

I have to get all my computer work finished by 9pm before this starts to happen, to protect my computer. Today the pump to the sewerage system is not working due to the power going on and off. My fridge has stopped working.

Last night during a blackout, my son had an asthma attack. I couldn’t use his nebuliser. This was a mild attack, but I may not be so lucky next time. 

This is now a critical … we need action now. Will I be voting for those in power at present: not a chance in hell. 

For those of us who have watched David Attenborough’s three-part series on the Great Barrier Reef, there must be equal amounts of wonder and grief.

If you have been lucky enough to visit the reef (as I have), those feelings may be amplified. The threat of losing millions of species living in a wonderland of symbiotic harmony and astonishing beauty within a few short decades, due to the impacts of human beings through pollution, over-fishing and the most devastating - climate change - makes one both marvel and shudder at the extraordinary rate of change that has caused such enormous damage. 

If thousands of years of evolution and adaptation are so seriously threatened by modern humanity, we would be wise to take heed - we too will be seriously affected by our own actions in a short time. 

It is an urgent plea for us all to reconsider what we can do to live with care on this beautiful planet, and for those in positions of influence and power to do what they can to change the current destructive paradigm. We can change from fossil fuels to renewable energy provided we wake up in time and exercise our collective intelligence, humanity and will.