Council-led life jacket project to keep Far North communities safe in the water

Students and teachers from Te Kura ā-Iwi o Pawarenga (Pawarenga School) with their new lifejackets. Photo / Supplied

Boaties are set for a safer season on the water after a council-led project brings life jackets into remote Far North communities.

As Northlanders head out on their boats this summer, a project by the Northland Regional Council is supporting water safety messages in the Far North as they hand out a total of 120 life jackets.

The 'life jacket library' initiative was designed to encourage safer boating behaviour and is part of NRC's Nobody's Stronger than Tangaroa campaign which aims to address lack of skipper knowledge, failure to wear life jackets, speeding, and alcohol use on the water.

Councillor Colin Kitchen, who represents the council's most northerly Te Hiku constituency, said the NRC received $70,000 in funding from Maritime NZ towards the campaign, with about $10,000 used to purchase the life jackets.

Each area targeted gets about 20 life jackets which it can then lend out to locals as it sees fit, the rationale being that the recipients know how to maximise the benefits from the scheme, whether that be lending them out for just a few hours or longer-term.

"Life jacket loans – including the length of time they're out for – will be managed by the communities themselves, and they'll also be responsible for undertaking Covid-19 protection procedures in line with their current policies," Kitchen said.

Pawarenga and Ahipara were among the early beneficiaries of the scheme.

Te Kura ā Iwi o Pawarenga (Pawarenga School) was given 19 life jackets in early December.

The kura is right on the water's edge and has pupils aged 6 to 13, including several who had not yet learned to swim.

Meanwhile, another 20 life jackets will also go to Ngāti Kuri's marae at Te Kao which got 10 life jackets last year and which had sowed the seed for the wider life jacket library scheme.

Les Bore, who works with the council as its Far North safety ambassador to coordinate improving navigation safety outcomes, has been contracted to distribute the life jackets.

"Technically this is the second season this initiative has operated," he said.

"Last year was more about finding out how small communities operate. They're kind of self-sufficient and tend to rely on themselves rather than external agencies."

Bore said the idea came up during some local fishing and diving contests he attended last year.