RESIDENTS of Lawn Terrace at Capalaba say they are going batty.
They claim a stench is rising out of their sewerage pipes, cracked from roots of trees harbouring a flying fox colony.
Long-time resident Lyn Sloane said every time she turned on her shower, the stench wafted up through the pipes.
“The sewerage problem with the cracked pipes would not have occurred if council had cleared trees harbouring the bats when they first got federal permission to disturb the colony in 2013,” she said.
Ms Sloane said council officers were called as early as November 2013 and found the smell was coming from sewerage seeping from a manhole on council land behind the Lawn Terrace properties.
In April 2014, officers were again called to the site and after investigation found the smell was from bathroom drains.
But residents disagreed and said the odour was from the council’s sewer.
Last month, Ms Sloane rang council again after smelling hydrochloric acid wafting up from her shower drain.
She said she called officers on August 5 after sewerage started leaking out of the manhole on council land behind number 44.
“They used a high-pressure hose to clear the blockage. They said they would return to replace the lid and first chamber. They did return but the problem remains,” she said.
“Officers have already done some work but have had to stop to apply for a permit to touch the bat colony. That could take up to three weeks and we can’t stand the smell.”
Queensland Health was also contacted but ruled out any risk to residents and said it was a council issue.
Last week, council officers told Ms Sloane they were unable to act until the Department of the Environment issued an environmental permit to approve any work on the site where the protected bats lived.
Officers inspected the sewer manhole in Lawn Terrace on Friday and found it to be operating normally with no sewage-related issues or sewer-related odour.
They said officers immediately fixed a blockage in the sewer manhole on August 4.
“The tree roots that caused the blockage were removed and the area surrounding the manhole was cleaned and disinfected,” council said.
“While there is no operational issue with the sewer at this time, further work is planned for the sewer manhole itself. This will require access near the bat colony and expert advice is being sought on the appropriate timing.
“Redland Water has no plans to remove trees.”
