EARTH FIRST | Ducking for a bit of cover after boating and fishing decision

This decision has been met with concern from environmental groups.

Rosemary Stapleton, secretary of the Orange Field Naturalist and Conservation Society, has been monitoring bird populations at Spring Creek for a number of years.

Ms Stapleton said “boating at Spring Creek will disturb and chase away the threatened bird species that live there or use it in times of drought”.

“It is disappointing that the significant environmental values of the reservoir have been ignored. Other cities value and treasure their wetlands. Let people do water-based activities on Gosling Creek and Lake Canobolas. Spring Creek needs to be preserved for its natural values.”

Cyril Smith is the president of the Orange Regional Water Security Alliance, which opposed public access to Spring Creek.

Mr Smith reminded council of a previous recommendation to close the road between Lone Pine Avenue and Shepherd Road “to protect Orange's water security”.

“What has changed since then?” Mr Smith asked. He was certain that council fully appreciated the Australian Drinking Water Standards statement which said, “protection of water sources and treatment are of paramount importance and must never be compromised”.

Likewise Cilla Kinross, president of the Central West Environment Council, had concerns about council's decision.

She reminded us that “as the result of the 2003 Land and Environment Court judgement to allow Kinross school to conduct rowing on Spring Creek, council prepared a Plan of Management in 2007, permitting supervised rowing under controlled conditions, which included exclusion zones to ensure that rare water birds are not unduly disturbed”.

“Council will be expected to revisit the environmental assessment procedures, concerning not only the two threatened bird species but also species protected under various international treaties relating to migratory birds, several of which utilise the reservoir.

“Unsupervised boating would not be supported by CWEC, as there would be no way to control access to exclusion zones, number of boats present, and overall disturbance to water birds.”