Council bites back

Jessica Benton
AFTER years of mosquito hell on the Bellarine Peninsula residents and visitors have finally found relief this summer.
Barwon Coast Committee of Manage-ment’s Bob Jordan, who manages two caravan parks in mosquito prone wetlands at Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove, said tourists were enjoying relief since the mosquito management program was intensified.
“We’re getting very little complaints this year,” he said.
“We’re very supportive of the programs being undertaken and things seem to be working well despite the fact of the heat and rain.”
Mr Jordan said the situation had altered dramatically over the past few years.
“If you go back four or five years before the program was ramped up we had some very bad years where we even undertook spraying within the caravan parks ourselves because it was so bad.”
Ocean Grove Community Association president Michael Harbour agreed the situation had improved.
“This season has been pretty good this year,” he said.
“The mosquitoes flare up a bit after the rain but they die down pretty quickly.
“It’s certainly not as bad as it was a few years ago.”
City of Greater Geelong increased its finances to $250,000 this year to cover the program because of increased rainfall. Last year, the City spent $200,000 on the mosquito control program.
The City used a combination of aerial application and ground level treatment to control mosquitoes in the common breeding sites around the Bellarine Peninsula, including Ocean Grove, Barwon Heads, Point Lonsdale and St. Leonards.
Mayor John Mitchell said while light trap readings had shown mosquito numbers were significantly down on previous years, it was impossible to eliminate all airborne mosquitoes.
“Residents should expect to see an increase in the general number of mosquitoes as it is normal for adult levels to fluctuate over the season,” he said.
“Rainfall, temperature and tide all affect breeding of mosquitoes in both open wetland areas and backyards.”