Future of Dudding Lake campground in doubt

The future for Dudding Lake camping ground and picnic area, near Marton has become as murky as the water in the lake.
But at this stage neither the Rangitikei District Council, which administers the property, nor the lessees, Howard and Maureen Lange of Otaki, are saying anything to lessen that murk.
The Langes took over the campground lease about a year ago, after pushing the district council into evicting several semi-permanent campers.
Now the Langes appear to be on the move. Some time last week they removed cooking and laundry appliances from the camp facilities block - a clear indication something was amiss.
That situation seriously disadvantaged 16 families from the Wainuiomata Caravan Club (WCC) who chose to rally at Dudding Lake for Labour Weekend.
While the lack of laundry and cooking amenities did not greatly trouble the caravanners, the lack of properly functioning toilet and shower facilities did. Toilets and showers operated only intermittently throughout the weekend, despite the best efforts of the resident caretaker.
A WCC spokesperson said Dudding Lake had been on the club's list of most popular sites for more than a decade, so it was disappointing to turn up and find it in such a poor state.
When asked yesterday what had gone wrong with the lease arrangement, Mrs Lange declined to answer, saying only that the matter would be discussed with the council, in private, tomorrow.
Rangitikei Mayor Chalky Leary confirmed there would be a meeting with the Langes and that council chief executive Clare Hadley would present a report relating to the future of the camp ground.
"But it's really too soon to say anything at this stage," he said.
Mr Leary said one of the key issues was that the camp ground needed a 24/7 caretaker but there were not enough people coming to stay at Dudding Lake to pay a caretaker's wages.
"The thing to try and do is to keep Dudding Lake going because it is a beautiful place, but it really can't be propped up at expense to the Rangitikei District ratepayers. It just wouldn't be right. We will endeavour to deal with all the issues on Thursday," Mr Leary said.
The caretaker hired by the Langes to look after Dudding Lake had little to say yesterday.
"I can only say that I enjoy my job very much, but I can't talk about anything, as I'm just an employee, and it's not for me to say any more than that."