Mozzie study swat plan

By Bridget Brady
AN ENVIRONMENTAL impact study may be undertaken to check if it is viable to swat the mozzie problem in the coastal villages.
Mozzies and midges have driven coastal village residents mad for years, and the wet and humid conditions during the past few months have reignited calls to spray the area to control the pests.
Late last year Casey council officers released a report which noted that the council was unlikely to receiving funding to carry out the spray because the area was not considered likely to harbour disease.
The high cost of spraying, about $250,000 a year, and the environmental significance of the area were other reasons, the council said.
But Balla Balla Ward councillor Geoff Ablett said it would only take one case of a disease such as Ross River virus to create a problem around the coastal villages.
He has called on the council to undertake an environmental impact study so approval was in place if there was an urgent need to spray the coastal areas.
“So there would be no hold-up if we needed to act quickly,” Cr Ablett said.
According to the Department of Health, there has been one confirmed case of mosquito transmitted virus in Casey since 2008, which was in Pearcedale, but residents have said they know of more cases.
As the council resolved late last year, Casey’s manager of community safety Caroline Bell said the council was committed to a community education program to help residents reduce the nuisance of mosquitoes.