Like a bat out of ... place. What do we do now?

But it's not every year you get the sort of debate we have seen this week.

Bats, of course, often fly into Orange in spring, and although not an annual pilgrimage their presence in the city has been notable for the last five or so years.

It's thought grey-headed flying foxes find their way to Orange because of the food we have here for them to eat.

This year, a larger number of bats in Orange have coincided with a native eucalyptus tree, which have been in flower, boom as well as the large number of pear trees around the city.

So, what do we do with them?

The answer is normally coexist, because the bats generally don't hang around long enough to become much of a nuisance - not like down the road at Bathurst, where thousands have roosted at Machattie Park and their council has closed the park as a result.

That's not happening here ... however, this week council did vote in favour of cancelling planned celebrations to mark Cook Park's 150^th anniversary.

And that seems to be where the debate began.

Council staff said the move, which was put forward by staff and then passed by councillors on Tuesday, was to ensure the city meets its Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act responsibilities.

But a rescission motion lodged the following day meant the party would go ahead - albeit without the brass band in action. A string duo replaced the band.

"Why can't we disturb the bats? It's our park; the ratepayers' park. No one is saying they should be shot" was councillor Kevin Duffy's thoughts on the matter.

Blunt, brutal and straight over the top of the point, rather than nailing it, there's still some merit to Cr Duffy's musing.

Certainly the situation at Cook Park should be dire before we think about closing up the area, or even cancelling events if there are bats in the vicinity.

By the same token, it should be our responsibility to ensure animals in the area - native or not - are looked after, even if it's simply a measure to keep the peace. Can you imagine a tuba dropping a low C and whipping hundreds of bats into a frenzy as people tried to mark an important milestone for one of the gems of Orange?

It really is a balancing act. One council is obviously trying to negotiate as best it can.

As it turns out, rain put paid to the party on Saturday anyway and the celebrations will go ahead at a later date - what do we do if the bats call in reinforcements between now and then?

Hold the trombones, we might need a few more cellos to mark Cook Park's special day instead.

Nick McGrath, editor