Forest campers found

Two people found at a semi-permanent campsite in the Bottle Lake Forest Park were last month issued with a trespass notice. Council staff located the pair -- a 26-year-old man and a 35-year-old woman -- at a campsite which was hidden between rows of young pine trees and surrounded by dry vegetation.

Forest and rural areas surrounding the city have been on extreme fire alert and the City Council was concerned that the campers were putting at risk the Council-owned forest and nearby homes.

Around New Year, the pair had been spoken to by a Council Park Ranger who warned them that their activities went against several Council rules, including unauthorised camping on a reserve and littering. The pair had signed an acknowledgement of having received the trespass notice, which will remain in force for all of Bottle Lake Forest Park for two years.