Bay of Plenty Water Safety Strategy refreshed in January to reflect latest data and trends.

Regional Water Safety Strategy manager Dave White. Photo / Supplied

The Bay of Plenty Water Safety strategy kicks on for its fourth year running with the goal of tackling the Bay of Plenty's consistent preventable drowning rate.

The strategy is led by a governance of representatives from different areas of the aquatic sector and is driven by Dave White, regional water safety strategy manager.

Dave says, "It's been a horrendous summer for preventable drownings around the country, and we've sadly seen eight preventable drownings in both the 2020 and 2021 years in the Bay of Plenty, slightly above our 10 year average of seven."

Originally put in place by Water Safety New Zealand, the Bay of Plenty Water Safety Strategy's purpose is to identify the trends within our region and better co-ordinate access to education and quality of water safety programmes.

Dave says, "We've made significant progress already in such a short time and this refreshed version of the strategy more accurately represents this progress, taking into account trends observed in the latest preventable drowning data provided by Water Safety New Zealand.

"To the end of 2020 our 10-year trend was actually slightly declining, but the eight drownings last year have unfortunately changed that back to an increasing 10-year trend.

"While the 15-34 year group is still overrepresented in our statistics, we've also observed an increase in the 55 plus age group over the past two years.

"The primary activity that's leading to drowning in our region is swimming in both coastal and fresh water locations, with boating-related preventable drownings on the decline."

When asked what the priority is for the coming 12 months, Dave says, "reviewing the strategy has revealed an opportunity to really improve the accessibility to water safety education in our region, and we have now placed this as our top priority for the next 12 months".

"We're also going to be working more closely with Surf Lifesaving New Zealand to further encourage safer behavior at our beaches and work on ways in which we can improve education around beach safety."

Chris Emmett from Surf Lifesaving New Zealand, who sits on the governance of Water Safety Bay of Plenty, says, "The progress this initiative has made in such a short time is significant and we believe that we're now sitting in a really good position to make a greater impact in our community by providing the education and teachings needed to lower our preventable drowning rate."

Dave says they are also working hard to ensure all tamariki in the region are given the opportunity to go through the Water Skills For Life Plus programme through collaborative partnerships with Swimming NZ, Water Safety NZ, and the support from various private sector sponsors.

The Water Skills For Life Plus programme is an improvement on the original Water Skills For Life and provides teachers with additional support and resources.

Water Safety Bay of Plenty's primary sponsors are Water Safety New Zealand, Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Western Bay of Plenty District Council, One Foundation, Grassroots, and Rotorua Energy Consumer Trust, with support from Surf Lifesaving NZ, Tauranga City Council, Whakatāne District Council, Swimming NZ and other sector stakeholders and aquatic providers.