I must admit I came away angry and disappointed when council moved to put the suggestion out to public consultation.

I am at loss to understand why council would want to close this area when their own report states that only minor savings would be achieved by not having to grade the road and a small saving would be made as the septic tank would not have to be pumped out, a cost which Green Hill Lake Development Board would be happy to pay.

The report also states that the area which council did an informal study on over ‘several days’ only catered for a small numbers of campers. It should be recalled what happens when there is water in the lake; campers flock to the lake, particularly during Christmas and Easter, at sometimes well over 150 campsites.

These people come to the lake to enjoy its unregulated bush-type camping and regularly pass on their congratulations to development board members on such a delightful site, regardless of whether there is water in the lake or not. These people do not want to be crammed into a 3.8-hectare area which is all that will be left if the closure takes place. According to the report, the area would accommodate about 50 campsites.

Ararat businesses tell us about the enormously positive impact campers from Green Hill Lake can and do have throughout the year, especially at holiday times. 

I and other Green Hill Lake Development Board members are at the lake nearly every day and could have given council a much more accurate figure of who and how many use this area but unfortunately we were not consulted.

We could have told them that the area is used regularly by busloads of disabled people, who use the disabled toilet at the lake which is in the east toilet block. They also drive to Apex Bridge and walk over it for a picnic or lunch. Many others also use the reserve. I wonder when this drought is over, where these visitors will be going? Will we turn them away to the next town when they are locked out of this fenced-off beautiful natural bush land area?

MAX WOHLERS

Ararat