A man jumps from McLaren Falls road bridge earlier this month.
A man jumps from McLaren Falls road bridge earlier this month.
Western Bay District Council has given up trying to prevent thrillseekers putting themselves in danger by jumping off the McLaren Falls bridges.
Jumpers have been defying efforts by the council to prevent people diving from the road and foot bridges into the water for years.
A Bay of Plenty Timesphotographer visited the popular swimming site during the holiday period and witnessed people jumping off the road bridge.
In December, 2012, the council accepted all its efforts to stop jumpers, including putting a wire mesh fence along the side of the road bridge, had failed.
The fence's wire mesh was cut repeatedly and people would risk putting themselves in danger by clambering over it.
It had been installed following a coroner's recommendation after a man died in 1995 in a fatal jump from the bridge.
"After years of fixing cut fencing and hearing of people climbing the fencing, it was clear the safety precaution wasn't working," Western Bay of Plenty District Council group manager for infrastructure services Gary Allis said.
When a new footbridge was built in April last year, the council decided not to include any additional safety measures to prevent jumping, Mr Allis said.
It also decided to remove the fencing from the road bridge.
"Additional high fencing, razor wire, or netting were considered in the design of the new pedestrian bridge, but it was decided they were likely to be just as ineffective."
Instead, signage was installed at the bridge to warn people of the dangers of jumping. Mr Allis said the council had a duty to warn of the dangers of jumping off the bridge, but at the end of the day people were responsible for making the choice of whether or not to jump " and to accept the consequences of that choice.
Image 1 of 14: A hot day at McLaren Falls. Photo by George Novak
"There is nothing more the council can do to prevent it.
"Jumping off either bridge is considered dangerous and should be avoided. Jumping off the traffic bridge has occurred for many years and appears to be an activity that the thrill-seeking component of our community wishes to undertake."
Joe Tamihana, 25, recently started jumping off the road bridge after gradually working his way up to higher jumping points. "It's fun. It's just high enough that you get a little bit of an adrenalin rush. Any lower than that, it's over too quickly."
Mr Tamihana said he had never been hurt while jumping, other than a bruised backside. "I'm a little bit worried about the danger but I always make sure I check the water first before I jump. I know that after the gates open, it's a bad time to jump and you should stay away for a while."
