Calls for Northland drowning prevention strategy

Eight people drowned in Northland in 2021, four at beaches, but there is no region wide preventative strategy. 04 January 2021. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Eight people, all males, died in preventable drownings in Northland last year, but the region has yet to formulate a drowning prevention strategy.

Water Safety New Zealand released its 2021 Drowning Report yesterday, and despite nationwide lockdowns, there were 74 drowning deaths for the second year in a row.

Northland is grossly over-represented in the statistics: while 3.9 per cent of the population lives in Northland, 11 per cent of the national toll occurred in the region.

Water Safety New Zealand Chief Executive Daniel Gerrard said this year's analysis showed that participation in water activities were increasing through the "huge variety" of agents involved in drownings.

"Any drowning is an absolute tragedy and we know the impact on whanau and family and friends is just huge."

Water Safety New Zealand chief executive Daniel Gerrard. Photo / Supplied

With international travel almost non-existent under Covid restrictions, New Zealanders have been exploring their own waters, but it's not without risk, said Gerrard.

"Those West Coast beaches, which are amazing playgrounds, and amazing rock fishing opportunities... but with that comes the added risk."

All eight of the drownings in the Northland area were men, which Gerrard explained is a trend throughout the country.

"We see males always over-represented. It's similar to driving statistics - the element of risk-taking, over-estimating your own ability and under-estimating the environment is quite consistent."

Older Kiwis made up a significant proportion of drownings in Northland, with five deaths in the 65-plus and one in the 55-64 group..

"It's almost as if there's a cohort of New Zealanders moving through the age ranges that are taking those risks with them. Whether it be from a boating perspective, as inappropriate behaviour in a boat, or that rock fishing scenario where he's always got to just take more risk.

"There's got to be a long-term approach, but we've got to start looking at this really seriously and challenging maybe that male ego or that risk a bit more."

Limited resources have often reduced water safety messages into a "one size fits all" approach, Gerrard acknowledges.

"What we really need to do is find new partners to help support us and invest in some of these behaviour change campaigns, and have a much more tailored campaign that we run in Northland that is specific to what's going on in Northland."

Matt Williams CEO of Surf Life Saving Northern Region. Photo / Supplied

Northland has had two drownings already this year, putting the region at 23 per cent of last year's toll on the 19th day of the year.

Surf Life Saving Northern Region CEO Matt Williams said Northland has come a long way and successfully addressed specific water danger issues, but he wants to see region-wide strategic change.

"I think what we need to see is more impact and involvement from the regional and local councils."

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"They need to inform a strategy on how to address these problems. Surf Life Saving have had countless conversations to try to drive this in. The local and regional authorities need to work together to develop a drowning prevention strategy for Northland."

Williams said Surf Life Saving have been advocating for a regionwide drowning prevention strategy for five years, to not only understand current swimming habits but also where the community will be swimming in the future.

"It's not enough for each local authority or each community to do it itself, we have to do it as a region."

Williams wants a less reactive and more preventive response to drownings, starting with how we use lifeguards.

"Not just saying where the lifeguards need to be today - the question should be really where lifeguards need to be in the next four to five years."

"I think it's a far more productive way to go about it and it saves money to the ratepayer because we're getting ahead of the curve. It stops the horrible impact in the community of a drowning."

Making water safety information easy for the public to access through educational infrastructure is at the forefront of Williams's mind.

"Off the back of that is ensuring we have adequate signage information and we make information easy to access for the public... in the languages that need be."

Williams said Surf Life Saving are yet to get a response from council about when they can meet to bring the local responses together into a regional plan.

Chair of Northland Mayoral Forum Jason Smith said Northland's 3200km-long coastline and frequent influx of summer visitors elevates the region's vulnerability to drownings.

"One of the important things for Northland is that we have a small population and an enormous coastline."

Chair of Northland Mayoral Forum and Kaipara Mayor Jason Smith. Photo / Supplied

Four of the 2021 drownings were at beaches, three were in tidal waters and one occurred in inland still waters.

"Not all of the people who drown or come to Northland are Northlanders, there are other people from other places who also come in summertime," said Smith.

Smith said funding for regional drowning prevention programmes needs to be found outside of Northland ratepayers' pockets for an issue that is so expansive.

"I'm very supportive of us doing everything we can to get external funding for putting those strategies together. One of the important things with that is that it's not necessarily ratepayer-funded.

"The resourcing of how that should take place, the development of a regional strategy, is something I would love Water Safe New Zealand to step up to do with us in Northland."

Signage is an expensive issue for a region so large, so Smith suggests the region needs to find ways other to get safety messages out in the water.

"We can't have signs on all the beaches in 25 different languages but we can have information on websites in 25 different languages."

Smith admitted he didn't think there currently was a website with safety information for Northland beaches in different languages.

"It kind of needs to be a Water Safe New Zealand approach, and potentially, probably, a regional council space."