RESIDENTS of a College Road property say snakes and insects are being attracted to the area as Bathurst Regional Council has failed to maintain a nearby creek.
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Johanna van de Vorstenbosch and her husband Tony have lived at their property since 2002, never seeing a snake until this year.
They have now come across three, the first they spotted being a tiger snake.
Mrs van de Vorstenbosch said the snakes have come from the poorly maintained Hawthornden Creek.
The creek, which runs beneath College Road, is full of vegetation and has water pooling where dirt was removed around a month ago.
“They should be taking [the vegetation] all out so it is a creek. A creek is to take water away, not, as my husband says, to dam it,” Mrs van de Vorstenbosch said.
As children often play around the creek, Mrs van de Vorstenbosch is also concerned for their safety.
She has reported the issue to council numerous times and tried to contact member for Bathurst Paul Toole, who was mayor at the start of the saga.
Mrs van de Vorstenbosch said an engineer from council had been in contact with her in recent months, which she was happy with, but nothing has changed.
“I’m just getting sick of all the promises and nothing being done,” she said.
When contacted by the Western Advocate, council said that Hawthornden Creek was identified years ago as needing rehabilitation and restoration, which was why trees were removed and the area replanted with appropriate native vegetation in 2007-08.
In 2010, council adopted the Urban Waterways management plan, which identified that the status of riparian vegetation and in-stream habitat there was generally poor to very poor and that erosion and sediment movement were ongoing issues.
The only sections of it rated in good condition were the sections upstream of College Road and the section within Jaques Park, where active control of woody weeds and revegetation with native species had been undertaken.
In 2013, council received funding to install rock structures within the creek to help stabilise the banks and bed and to further improve the vegetation.
READ MORE: Hawthornden Creek work to start in 2014
“Recently an ecologist completed an updated condition assessment on this and other urban creeks in Bathurst,” mayor Graeme Hanger said.
“The report notes that the condition of the section of Hawthornden Creek just below College Road was improving in condition and that the sections just above College Road and within Jaques Park continue to be rated as being in good condition.”
Council will continue to undertake maintenance, Cr Hanger said.
