All welcome at Council’s community meetings

Eurobodalla Council is inviting residents to come to a series of community meetings in Batemans Bay, Moruya and Narooma during April and May.

Everyone is welcome at the meetings where a brief overview of Council’s 2016-17 plans and budget will be presented and there will be plenty of time for questions and to talk about Council matters that are important to the community. A separate meeting will be held on 16 May to address the flying fox issue.

Mayor Lindsay Brown initiated the twice yearly community meetings last year and says that the meetings held last September were successful and a way to open up more opportunities for the community to engage with Council. “We had good attendance and lots of great questions from residents with some positive feedback and suggestions. There was a big focus on local roadworks, public toilets, and community facilities. It was a terrific opportunity to discuss what is important to our residents and we took everything on board and have been able to successfully answer and address many of the issues raised.”

The Batemans Bay meeting will be held Wednesday 27 April, 5.30pm to 7.30pm at the Batemans Bay Community Centre in Museum Place. The Moruya meeting will be held on Friday 29 April from 2.00pm to 4.00pm at the Moruya RSL Hall in Page Street, and the Narooma meeting will be on Monday 2 May, from 5.30pm to 7.30pm at the Narooma Golf Club.

Council is keen for residents to be aware that a separate information session will be held in Batemans Bay on Monday 16 May for the flying fox issue that is currently impacting residents. Clr Brown says the flying fox issue is too important and complex to be adequately covered during the general community meetings.

“We need to provide as much information as we can to affected residents in Batemans Bay and to other residents and community groups from across Eurobodalla. How this complex issue is managed in the future is important for all of Eurobodalla and there is no easy solution. I’m constantly being asked why we aren’t dispersing the flying foxes and my answer is ‘where will they disperse to?’ How do we avoid relocating the problem to another urban area? There doesn’t appear to be any way to control where a dispersed flying fox colony moves to and there are plenty of cases around the country where new colonies set up within 600 metres of the dispersed camp. These are the issues and questions we need to talk about and we have invited a range of independent experts with extensive experience to answer your questions and provide factual information.

“I am also inviting our local politicians and mayors from around the country whose communities are facing the same issue. If people want to hear about and discuss the flying foxes, they should come to the information session in May,” the Mayor said.

The flying fox information session will be held on Monday 16 May, 5pm to 7pm at the Batemans Bay Solider Club. Details about the speakers and the format for the meeting will be advertised in the coming weeks.

Meeting dates Batemans Bay community meeting, Wednesday 27 April, 5.30pm to 7.30pm at the Batemans Bay Community Centre in Museum Place. Moruya community meeting: Friday 29 April from 2pm to 4pm at the Moruya RSL Hall in Page Street.Narooma community meeting: Monday 2 May, from 5.30pm to 7.30pm at the Narooma Golf Club.Flying fox information session: Monday 16 May, 5pm to 7pm at the Batemans Bay Solider Club.