SES warns racegoers not to camp in low-lying areas with moderate flooding predicted

Police Paddock's Tent City is already relocating in preparation for the rainfall, after discussions with State Emergency Services (SES).

SES spokesperson David Rankine said it's highly likely that low-lying areas in and around Bathurst, like Police Paddock, will see a repeat of the flooding that occurred a few weeks ago.

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"There's two rain fronts coming through Wednesday and Friday," he said.

"Wednesday we are expecting 20 to 40 millimetres of rain in and around the Central West ... Friday we should see anywhere between 20 and 40 millimetres, and isolated storms up to 80 millimetres on Friday into Saturday."

If the prediction is correct, the Macquarie River in Bathurst could see moderate flooding, reaching 5.5 metres or even higher if the isolated storms fall upstream.

The SES reached out to the proprietors of Tent City in Police Paddock, where hundreds of tents are pitched for racegoers, and notified them of the high likelihood that the area will go under water.

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Organisers have now started relocating Tent City to another area in Bathurst.

"Council will be closing Police Paddock to campers," Mr Rankine said.

"That's a mitigation flood management risk that we want to really warn the community about. The flooding we saw there a few weeks ago with Vale Creek and Police Paddock going under water is a very likely circumstance over the course of this weekend."

With race week attracting thousand of people to the Bathurst region, many of whom camp during their stay, the SES strongly urges people to stay away from low-lying areas and not to camp in a location without permission.

Road users are also reminded to plan ahead for the fact that flooding is likely to occur over the weekend.

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During the last downpour in mid-September, SES crews carried out over 30 flood rescue operations, most of which were caused by people attempting to drive through flood water.

"Turn around, don't drown" is the message from Mr Rankine, who can't stress strongly enough that people should never test their luck with flood water.

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