| Lake island is bad for health |
| By Anthony Radford
The stench of the droppings is causing residents to close doors and windows
WALKERS hold their noses, cover their faces and wear handkerchiefs over their mouths while walking around Eaglehawk’s Lake Neangar, desperate to avoid the unhealthy stench.
At least one local resident has told the Bendigo Weekly she had an asthma attack while walking through the bird dropping dust emanating from the island.
A group of concerned locals met with the Weekly at the lake on Tuesday after reading last week’s reports about its poor condition.
Residents are concerned about the stench of the island and the surrounding water.
The man-made island has become a rookery for native pest birds such as ibis and silver gulls.
The stench of their droppings is causing nearby residents to close their doors and windows, and has been blamed for health problems.
Despite this, the City of Greater Bendigo council has its hands tied with state government regulations that make it impossible to disturb the nests or the habitat of the birds.
Earlier this year, Nicole Ryan was on her usual walk around the lake.
As she passed the spot where the island was closest to the walking track, she inhaled what she described as a mouthful of bird poo dust.
“The air was that thick I struggled to breathe and had an asthma attack,” she said.
“The air was that thick for about 200 metres that it was getting tough to breathe. I prefer to walk around my neighbourhood now, whenever I can.”
When Nicole wants to go to the lake, she is forced to put her nose into her shirt when she is near the island.
“Sunset seems to be the worst time, its really stinks,” she said. “It has become really bad in the past four or five years.”
Another local, Joyce Peters, said other walkers had gone to dramatic lengths to protect themselves.
“There is an oldies walking group here and they put hankies over their faces,” she said. “They walk first thing in the morning when I do, and it stinks rotten.”
Mrs Ryan said she feared the problem had been put in the “too-hard basket”.
“The council spent all this money on a walking track but people are refusing to walk here.”
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