A MEMBER of the Perthville Uniting Church believes the trees along the Vale Road on the way to Perthville will be gone in the next 12 months if something isn’t done to manage an elm leaf beetle infestation.
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Property committee convener Brian Cowan said the beetles first appeared at the Perthville Uniting Church in February, 2016.
“We were having our first communion and one [dead beetle] fell into the communion glass,” he said.
Mr Cowan claims the beetles are now in “plague proportions”, to the point where meetings are now held in the church hall instead of the church itself.
People were entering the building covered in live beetles, he said.
“At the moment we’re meeting in the hall, but in two weeks we probably won’t be meeting there at all because there is so many,” he said.
Deciding to take action, Mr Cowan has organised a meeting at the church on Wednesday for various parties to inspect the situation.
Bathurst Regional Council, the Department of Primary Industries, Bathurst Community Climate Action Network president Tracy Sorensen and the media have all been invited.
Mr Cowan has extended the invitation to members of the community who know anything about the beetles.
The meeting will be held at the church from 2pm on Wednesday.
“The plight is, if they get into the trees [on Vale Road], they are going to get into homes,” Mr Cowan said.
