A Council proposal to remove the old hut at Goodmans Ford has been vigorously opposed by owner and manager of the Wollondilly River Station Camping Ground, Brian Casburn, who has used the hut for power for the past 10 years.

Mr Casburn was given permission to use the hut by Council in 1991 and has said that he was given no official notice from Council to withdraw this access.

Council’s general manager, David McGowan, said that the hut issue was raised by nearby residents who claimed that it was being used as a dwelling.

“It was brought to our attention that someone had moved into the hut and used it as a caravan-style office,” he said.

Mr Casburn, who is chairman of the Goodmans Ford Landcare Group, said the office was used by the group to operate computer equipment as the rest of his property is generator operated.

The landcare group also uses the power to run a freezer in which they keep samples of sick and deformed fish found in the Wollondilly River before sending it off for examination by the Fisheries Department.

Mr McGowan said that he was unaware that the landcare group was using the hut.

The hut, located just off Wombeyan Caves Road, is also the site of an emergency telephone that he and his wife Ina operate at their own expense.

Mr Casburn said that because of the lack of mobile telephone reception in the area, the emergency phone is used by people who might get into trouble on the isolated road.

“The phone is operated at no cost to the Council and has already helped save lives,” he said.

“The hut has a definite purpose. If it is pulled down the real losers will be the community.”

Police also used the hut as a local headquarters during the Ivan Milat investigations.

In a letter to Council, Mr Casburn offered to move the hut onto his freehold property or suggested that Council leases or sells him the hut and surrounding land.

However, Mr McGowan said that Council has not yet considered such options.

The Casburns have been solely responsible for the upkeep of the hut for the last 10 years and Mr Casburn believes that it is now in a better condition than when Council left it.

Mr McGowan said that he “has no doubt that this is the case” but was unable to comment on the future of the hut.

“We are still investigating the issues raised by Mr Casburn,” he said.