Since 2021, there’s been ongoing community concern about a flying-fox colony currently roosting in parkland adjacent to New Settlement Road, Narangba. We’ve been actively managing the colony since 2022, and now we’re investigating a longer-term management approach.

We want to hear from residents living in the area to gather feedback about flying-foxes and this proposed approach.

You can have your say on the proposal between 12 January and 6 February 2026, by:

• completing the online survey (below)
• emailing your feedback to yoursay@moretonbay.qld.gov.au
• calling (07) 3205 0555 and asking to speak to the Environmental Services Team.

Flying-foxes, also known as fruit bats, are the largest flying mammals on earth. Three species live in City of Moreton Bay: Black Flying-fox, Grey-Headed Flying-fox, and Little Red Flying-fox.

They are native animals and the Queensland State Nature Conservation Act (1992) protects all three species.

They are critical pollinators of many native tree species including Eucalypts. Pollinators are vital to a healthy ecosystem - assisting in the production of seeds and fruit in many plant species.

You can read more about flying-fox on our flying-fox webpage.

We have heard your concerns about the current roosting location of the flying-fox colony in the parkland adjacent to New Settlement Road, Narangba. You’ve told us about the noise, odour and damage from droppings.

From Moreton Says, we also know our community largely (67%) feel one of our top priorities as Council should be to enhance and restore native habitats.

We take a balanced approach to flying-fox roost management. We work to support residents' well-being while maintaining responsible wildlife management. You can find out more about our approach in our Statement of Management Intent.

To date, management of the colony has included trimming and lopping of trees to create separation between the colony and houses. We’ve also planted trees within the parkland to create areas for flying foxes to roost away from houses.

We are now investigating the installation of "canopy-mounted sprinklers" adjacent to residential properties backing onto parkland where flying-foxes roost, north of New Settlement Road, Narangba. See below map for proposed location of the sprinkler system. This is a draft concept, and precise locations are yet to be confirmed.

If implemented, oscillating sprinkler heads would be mounted to selected trees around the perimeter of the flying-fox colony and programmed to activate at scheduled times when flying-foxes are present. The set up would include booster pumps to provide sufficient flow and pressure to shoot water jets up to 10m, to act as a deterrent but not be lethal to flying-foxes.

The sprinklers would be programmed to activate for short periods at several times throughout the day (e.g. 30 second intervals every 3 hours between the hours of 6:00am and 6:00pm).

The intent of the sprinklers is to shift flying-foxes within the parkland and increase the distance between the colony and houses, not disperse the colony entirely.

The flying-fox colony will be closely monitored following installation of the sprinklers to measure their effectiveness. The success of the sprinklers will be measured by looking at the increase in separation between the colony and houses, not a reduction in flying-fox numbers.

For more information

For more information about this project you can:

• email yoursay@moretonbay.qld.gov.au
• call (07) 3205 0555 and ask to speak to the Environmental Services Team.

Moreton Bay City Council is collecting your personal information for the purpose of informing the Flying-fox Management - New Settlement Road, Narangba proposal and other related Council functions, services and projects. Council will also use your contact information to update Council’s customer information records and to contact you about the Project and other functions, services and projects of Council.