By MATT NICHOLLS
CAMPING at Dumaresq Dam might be a thing of the past as council weighs up the long-term future of the popular recreation facility.
The summer hotspot has been closed since last week when it was discovered that the internal wall of the on-site septic tank had collapsed.
Under section 109 of the Local Government Act 1993, the approval for Armidale Dumaresq Council to operate a waste water management facility was revoked.
At Monday night’s council meeting, councillors voted to move quickly to restore day use facilities as a matter of priority while the school holidays were continuing.
“This is a great facility and it would nice to see people back out there as quickly as possible,” Cr Margaret O’Connor said.
Her recommendation was seconded by Cr Andrew Murat and carried unanimously.
Providing the council gets approval from its environmental department, it will reopen the current facilities at the dam this week. They plan to regularly pump the septic tank, which is no longer suitable for long-term storage.
However, camping will not be allowed at Dumaresq Dam in the short-term future.
Councillors were given the choice to determine long-term options at the facility by civic and recreation services manager Phil Brown, but deferred the decision to a later date, most likely the February or March ordinary council meeting.
One of those options included removing campers completely, while the other called to charge campers a nominal fee.
Previously a free camping site, more than 20 campers were seen staying at the dam earlier this month.
Mr Brown said the council had no choice but to close the gates last week.
“The failure of the ageing waste management facility at Dumaresq Dam puts into perspective the importance of addressing council’s financial shortfall in maintaining our infrastructure assets,” he said.
“This facility is well over 30 years old and is no longer able to cope with the ever increasing popularity of Dumaresq Dam by campers and day visitors.”
