ORANGE City Council should rethink the location of a primitive camping area at Lake Canobolas which is being trashed by campers, according to a regular lake visitor.
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Mandy Crawley visits the lake to go walking and often takes visitors from out of town to see the attraction, but she believes the camping area, establishing by Orange City Council in December, has become an eyesore with campers leaving rubbish scattered around the site.
"I have no qualms about them camping there, [but] it's suppose to be one of Orange's major attractions and the aesthetics are being ruined," she said.
"It's right at the entrance to the lake and everything else is so beautiful.
"I just don't think [campers] care, they just leave their rubbish around."
Ms Crawley said she was especially disappointed when she found the area looking its worst on Clean Up Australia Day when busloads of school children volunteered to clean up.
"I know [the council] has tried to make it an area for them, but I think they should be somewhere else... whether its somewhere a bit more removed," she said.
"It cheapens the whole area."
Ms Crawley said campers sharing the amenities block with other visitors to the lake, especially young families, was not working and other users of the lake and nearby residents were also unhappy.
Council's Nick Redmond said the decision to establish the temporary camping site was prompted by calls from orchardists needing somewhere for seasonal workers to stay.
"Some people were camping dangerously and illegally in the Cabonne area along the side of the road... and they were using the lake after hours anyway," he said.
"Everything we've done has been about supporting the orchardists and making sure people are safe."
The trial of the camping area will finish at the end of the month when fruit picking is finished and council will review its success in April, he said.
"We've heard from nearby residents of the issues," he said.
"It was never permanent... it's a primitive area... if the review finds there is a need for it to be ongoing the review will look if there are more appropriate sites at the lake."
Mr Redmond said bins near the camping area were emptied by council staff daily and there was also a skip bin.
"We're there on a daily basis telling campers to pick up their rubbish," he said.
clare.colley@fairfaxmedia.com.au
