A call for expressions of interest in a lease on the Lake Purrumbete caravan park has attracted a large number of enquiries.

Kevin Connolly from CRE Brokers, which are brokers in caravan parks and tourist parks, said it had so far sent out at least a dozen information packs to people interested in taking on a 21-year lease for the park.

He said his firm expected to narrow down the number of expressions of interests to about two or three of the top offers to put before the lake’s frontage reserve management committee to consider.

The committee would assess the expressions of interest after the deadline for their submission on January 22, Mr Connolly said.

The committee manages the caravan park on behalf of the Department of Sustainability and Environment.

The lake’s frontage reserve management committee secretary Roger Tolland said the caravan park had lots of potential and needed someone willing to provide some modern cabin accommodation.

He said the committee had run the caravan park since August last year (2012) after the Lake Purrumbete Angling Club stepped down from the role.

Mr Tolland said the angling club had not renewed its 21-year lease in August because the job of managing the park had become too onerous for its volunteer members.

The club had built the caravan park about 21 years ago to cater for anglers and the park had grown substantially over the years, he said.

It presently has about 166 powered and unpowered sites and nine cabins.

About 102 of the sites are taken up on semi-permanent basis by guests who can stay for a maximum of 110 days a year.

Mr Tolland said the park was close to full at the moment with anglers and others attracted by the lake’s plentiful fish stocks and peaceful surrounds. Its peak occupancy is from the festive season through to Easter and many of those with semi-permanent sites come and go throughout their bookings.

The park also lured many “blow-ins” who had heard of the lake’s attractions through word of mouth, Mr Tolland said, and was the venue for a country music concert each Easter.

The lake is stocked each year with up to 45,000 juvenile fish from a range of species including brown and rainbow trout, Atlantic salmon and redfin.

Mr Tolland said lots of good-sized fish had been caught in the lake in recent weeks including brown trout up to four kilograms. 

About 20,000 Chinook salmon were due to be released into the lake in March.

The lake is in a volcanic crater and drops to a depth of 45 metres.

Mr Tolland said many of the lake’s public facilities such as a boat ramp, rotunda and playground, had been developed by the angling club.

The club had used all profits from the caravan park for the park’s maintenance and development, he said.