A West Australian man who donated cardboard and timber to people at an Aboriginal short-stay campsite has vowed to fight a littering fine in court.

Up to 15 people a night stay at Boulder Camp, which was set up in the mid-1990s to temporarily accommodate people visiting Kalgoorlie from remote communities.

The camp made headlines in 2016 when Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion called for its closure over poor living conditions.

People at the camp told the ABC they struggled to keep warm during winter and would burn anything they could find.

Former City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder councillor Mick McKay says he will fight the littering fine. ( ABC Goldfields-Esperance: Jarrod Lucas )

Former Kalgoorlie-Boulder councillor, Mick McKay, said he organised for a lopped tree and a dozen cardboard boxes to be dropped off for camp dwellers.

"We asked them if they wanted some wood and they were quite happy, so we took the load out to the Boulder Camp," he said.

Mr McKay, who resigned from the council last year after becoming a quadriplegic in a fall, was stunned when a $200 fine was issued.

"Then bureaucracy went crazy and the ranger came back at us about littering the place with cardboard. I could not believe it."

Campers appreciative of timber and cardboard

The City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder's $200 fine was initially issued to a woman whose trailer was borrowed for the drop off.

But Mr McKay told the council he was responsible because he had organised for his friend Waso "Bill" Koss to take the items to the camp.

Boulder man Waso "Bill" Koss took the cardboard and timber to Boulder Camp on behalf of Mr McKay. ( ABC Goldfields-Esperance: Isabel Moussalli )

Mr Koss said he "felt miserable" when he heard the donation had led to a littering fine.

"We put the timber there, but the people said to me, 'Please, can we also have this cardboard for the kids to put on the cement, to make it warmer?'" he said.

"We gave everything, they were happy [and] they said, 'Thank you very much'."

City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder chief executive, John Walker, said a fine was issued because littering at Boulder Camp was illegal and a regular problem.

"The issue here is people who think they might be doing the right thing are not, and other people use the same loophole," Mr Walker said.

"They take their pallets, they take their house contents, they take all sorts of rubbish and dump it down there thinking they can just burn it … but that is not appropriate.

"Burning some of those materials that have chemical hazards is unacceptable and not necessary."

Pastor says council should be doing more

Signs at the campsite warn people that if they are caught littering they could face fines of up to $2,000.

But local Aboriginal pastor, Geoffrey Stokes, said people should be allowed to take burnable materials to the site to keep camp-dwellers warm.

"It's something to be angry about and everybody should be angry about that," he said.

"It gets very cold. It does not snow but it gets as low as one degree."

Boulder Camp was set up to temporarily accommodate people visiting from remote communities. ( ABC Goldfields: Jarrod Lucas )

Mr Stokes said it was the responsibility of the entire community to look after people at the camp.

"The society is broken down with the homeless and people living below the poverty line, and we should be putting wood out there," he said.

But Mr Walker said the council regularly provided "sufficient wood" for the camp.

He said Kalgoorlie-Boulder residents were welcome to donate items and firewood, but only if it was approved by council.

"What one person might think is useful to burn, another person might think is just getting rid of their rubbish.

"Give us a call, we will have a look at it and make sure it is okay. But it is not okay for people to dump whatever they feel like into Boulder Camp."