GOONDIWINDI Regional Council will soon begin efforts to relocate a roost of flying foxes in Inglewood, aiming to ensure the Memorial Park is ready for the upcoming Anzac Day service.

Over the past year, the flying fox roost has shifted from its previous location along Macintyre Brook to the Inglewood Memorial Park, and is currently about three times its normal population size.

With the Anzac Day service at the Memorial Park coming up at the end of April, Council will attempt to relocate the roost back within vegetation along Macintyre Brook, south-east of the Bowls Club, about 130 metres east of its current location.

Relocation efforts will commence on Monday, April 13, and run for five days during the early morning hours, coinciding with the ‘fly-in’.

Council will provide information to nearby residents ahead of the program to ensure the community is informed and prepared.

Council must follow a Queensland Department of Environment and Science approved management plan that focuses on safe, non-lethal deterrence methods – known as ‘nudging’ – within the current roost area.

These include air blowers, smoke from green waste, sprinklers and scarecrows.

Council remains committed to balancing community needs with the regulated protection of native wildlife.

Goondiwindi Regional Council will soon begin efforts to relocate a roost of flying foxes at Inglewood Memorial Park ahead of the Anzac Day service (Image: Caitlin Morris).

Goondiwindi Region mayor Lawrence Springborg stressed the importance of acting before Anzac Day, given the Memorial Park’s significance.

“It’s about trying to find a balance,” Cr Springborg said.

“The Memorial Park site of the Inglewood roost is proving a real community concern with noise and odour, but also defecation on the memorial site itself, which is just not on ahead of the Anzac Day service.

“While Council maintains a flying-fox management plan, the Queensland Government regulates the management of flying-fox roosts under the Nature Conservation Act 1992.”

The current roost population is approximately three times the typical size, with an estimated 1500 black flying-foxes and 2500–3000 little red flying-foxes.

The Inglewood roost does not contain grey-headed flying-foxes or spectacled flying-foxes, which are protected under the Commonwealth Government’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).

Cr Springborg cautioned that, as native wildlife, flying foxes are unpredictable and the desired relocation outcome cannot be guaranteed.

“These are wild animals and their response to relocation techniques can be unpredictable,” he said. “We can do our best to encourage them to relocate to a desired area, but of course this can’t be guaranteed.

“We have to be prepared for the possibility they may even not respond to efforts at all and remain in the Memorial Park,” he said.