Horse riders have been ordered to dismantle an informal horse exercise area by the end of Tuesday after City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder rangers flagged the facility has never had a permit.

Local horserider Shannon Anthony told the Kalgoorlie Miner the area, which utilises dozens of 44-gallon drums and a small fenced-off area in vacant land behind Piccadilly Street, had been used for more than 20 years by horse owners in the area as a place to lunge their horses.

Residents in the area received a letter from rangers on Friday requesting they remove the items by close of business today, otherwise it would be removed by the city on Wednesday.

Ms Anthony said the area was used by several nearby horse owners as a safe place to exercise their horses away from dogs, motorbikes and people “hooning” through bushland.

She said it was also used by local horseriding schools to conduct lessons, to practice barrel racing, or as a social gathering for games and other activities.

“If you get a horse, you can’t just go off riding in the bush because in the bush there’s people running dogs off leads, there’s cars hooning around, there’s motorbikes out there so you actually need to have a safe spot to be able to get your skills and your horse’s skills good enough to be able to tackle the real world,” she said.

“And this little arena provides that, and it’s cheap, nasty, free — perfect.

“If this is gone, people will have to pay to be able to go to the Goldfields Equestrian Centre — if they can float their horses there — and if their parents have got time to take them.”

Ms Anthony said she emailed rangers during the weekend to ask if a permit could be obtained to keep the arena where it is, or if anything else could be done to ensure it remained.

At the time of talking to the Miner on Monday, she had not received a response.

“I just want them to have a talk to people, and if we need to relocate it fair enough; if it’s too ugly, fair enough but could we just paint it to do something to make it prettier,” she said.

“There’s a rumour going around that they’re building a mining camp there and if that’s the case, all’s well and good, but can they find us another little plot of land somewhere down Piccadilly Street where we could rebuild it? That’s what I am hoping for.”

The Miner asked the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder to confirm or deny the mining camp allegations, as well as respond to suggestions of a permit or another location, as well as what led the city to pursue the removal of the arena at this time.

The response from acting chief executive Lui Camporeale acknowledged community interest in the city-owned land and said enquiries received were being considered.

“More information and further comment will be provided as this work progresses,” he said.