A toilet has been installed at an overused Omarama campsite and fencing is expected next month.
Doc acting Te Manahuna-Twizel operations manager Brent Swanson said the new fencing was scheduled to be built in the next few weeks.
Doc’s 30-site Ahuriri Bridge Campsite on the banks of the Ahuriri River off State Highway 8, 3km north of Omarama, was overrun by crowds of up to 100 campers last year, locals say.
The campsite and recreation area was the focus of a public meeting in Omarama in July, many of those attending calling for the campsite to be closed until a solution was found.
The same month the Mackenzie and Waitaki Basins Responsible Camping Strategy Working Group — made up of Doc, the Mackenzie District and Waitaki District Councils, Linz and the NZ Transport Agency — was formed to identify solutions to immediately ease camping pressures by developing and implementing a plan for this summer season.
The fence would help to reduce the number of vehicles at the site at any one time. Doc rangers would continue to manage the campsite over summer.
