Ski club still looking for new base

The Kai Iwi Lakes Water Ski Club was forced to move out after its clubrooms were bought by the Kaipara District Council.

A Northland ski club is still searching for a new venue, three months after it was forced to move out when power boats were banned from a lake members have used for nearly five decades.

The Kai Iwi Lakes Water Ski Club moved out of its Lake Waikare base in October after the Kaipara District Council bought its clubrooms for $300,000 from its reserve contributions, which are paid by developers for use in reserve and park development.

Changes to the Kai Iwi Lakes (Taharoa Domain) Reserve Management Plan under which power boats have been banned from the lake while their use will be restricted at nearby Lake Taharoa, further affected the club's operation.

The club has about 100 members, including children, and some live in Auckland.

A key part of the plan, which was adopted by the Kaipara District Council in September, is to establish an education centre at the lakes.

The club recently tendered for a property that contained a lake in Whangarei but was unsuccessful.

Club secretary Tim Robinson said his members were currently sharing with a ski club in Puhipuhi which was not an ideal situation but there was nothing they could do about it.

"It's what it is and we'll make sure we get the club operational as soon as we find a place," he said.

Mr Robinson said the sale gave the club some certainty and an ability to move on.

Club activities, including annual competitions and learn to ski days, brought huge spin-offs to Kaipara's economy.

Restricting powerboats on the lake was one of a number of decisions KDC's governance committee made after considering 1000 public submissions.

The other key decision is to stop the release of trout from 2018 in order to support the restoration of native species.