Lane Cove Rats in the Ranks

In the Cove has received several complaints about the number of rats recently seen in Lane Cove Plaza. This is not surprising as the City of Sydney has seen a 75 per cent increase in rat complaints.

Recently In the Cove was dining out in Lane Cove when the subject of rats came up and everybody at the table had a rat story and noted how they had seen groups of rats in the Lane Cove Plaza. It appears that rats are very commonly seen around the TAB gardens and near the drains on Rosenthal Avenue. ITC contacted the Lane Cove Council and asked if they had seen an increase in rat numbers. A spokesperson advised:

Given the nature of the area there will always be some rodent issues however there has been no more instances than usual for the area.

ITC would not have believed the rat issue unless I saw it myself. Driving home after dinner, a huge rat ran across the plaza near the Post Office Pedestrian Crossing. I have never, in the 20 plus years I have lived in Lane Cove, seen a rat in the Lane Cove Plaza. I may have only seen one rat, but this sighting was consistent with the rat stories I had been told at dinner.

ITC is calling upon Lane Cove Council to implement a programme to reduce the amount of rats in the Lane Cove Plaza. This may mean more frequent cleaning of the plaza and more frequent garbage collections. In Hyde Park there have been reports of rats as big as cats. We don’t want to see this in Lane Cove. Rats are disease carriers and they carry bacteria that can cause human illnesses such salmonella.

Apparently construction will drive rats out of hiding. A large area of inner Lane Cove was demolished for apartments in the last month or so. ITC also calls up on Lane Cove Council to require all new commercial building development approvals to include a condition that a rat /pest management strategy be implemented.

What is your experience? Have you seen more rats in the Lane Cove Village? What can we do to reduce the number of rats?


Do you have a local issue you would like help with? ITC is here to help just email us at [email protected]