Volunteers, council staff and ecologists talked quietly among themselves, keeping an eye out for bats, until it was time to make a racket as the critters returned to the area after feeding overnight. 

We arrived at Heron Road at 4.30am ready to begin the task. No bats could be seen or heard. 

It was an hour later that work began and the group took to the work of making as much noise as they could.  

For an hour-and-a-half, a 20-strong team made an incredible amount of sound, banging pots, hitting pans, blasting music and blowing whistles, while shining bright lights into the sky to disturb the bats as they attempted to return to the roost. 

The sound was deafening; definitely not what I would want to wake up to, but, was some short-term pain for long-term gain for residents, who have been living with the problem for several years. 

Death metal music and industrial noise was played loudly through speakers and the pots and pans could be heard from afar. 

Soon after the noise started, residents took to social media to complain about being woken up; some the same residents who have opposed living with bats. 

This was only day one. 

Loud noise and lights will continue to disturb the bats, and wake up residents, at least until July 31.

The atmosphere on the bus back from Heron Road to the Batemans Bay Community Centre was electric as the morning had been declared a success by the senior ecologists on the ground. 

That meant council workers could spend Tuesday clearing vegetation from near homes severely affected by the bats.

One resident gave council permission to enter onto her land to clear in the hope it meant bats would cease from roosting in trees in her backyard. 

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