DESPITE recently securing more than $100,000 in funding to increase Yanga National Park’s tourism potential, the National Parks and Wildlife Service said dangerous conditions like those experienced across 2012/13 holiday period will always render the park closed.
In line with one of the park’s goals of boosting Balranald’s economy through tourism, National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) was recently successful in securing a $120,000 State Government grant for its stage two improvements of the Regatta Beach boat ramp facilities at Yanga Lake.
The upgrade is aimed at increasing use of the lake by both tourists and locals in the wake of the lake’s drying during the drought years.
Yet last month, blue-green algae levels in Yanga Lake were deemed well above the safe levels for recreation by the Murrumbidgee Regional Algal Coordinating Committee.
In addition, high fire danger forced the closure of Yanga National Park for days at a time across the summer holiday period.
An NPWS spokesperson told The Guardian that safety was the primary concern of the organisation as well as park officers.
For more on this story, see Wednesday’s edition of The
Guardian (13/02/13).
