‘Don’t fit culture’: Calls for jet ski ban at holiday spot

Ohiwa residents opposed to jetskis using Ohiwa Harbour are Kenny McCracken, Meg Collins, Dido Eden, Tanja Rother (standing) and Lynne Hickling, Tilmann Loewe and Stuart Slade (sitting).

A group of residents say jet skiers on Ōhiwa Harbour will be a risk to safety, a menace to wildlife and a bad fit for the culture of the Eastern Bay of Plenty harbour.

Seven Ōhiwa residents opposed to jetskis using the harbour voiced their concerns about Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s new Navigational Safety Bylaw, both at a hearing earlier this year and, more recently, at a meeting with council staff.

Ōhiwa Reserves Care Group’s Meg Collins said she wanted jet skis to be banned or for the regulations to go back to the status quo.

“With 80% of the harbour being exposed at low tide, it is not suitable for jet skis. Jet skis are made for speeding, not tottering along at 5 knots,” she said.

“This piece of legislation may suit big harbours such as Wellington and Tauranga, but certainly not Ōhiwa.

“We might have to wait until someone is killed or severely injured before the council finally makes some sensible bylaws that can be enforced.”

Reuben Fraser, the regional council’s regulatory services general manager, said it was not legally possible for the regional council to keep the jetski exclusion zone.

As part of its five-yearly review of the bylaw, the regional council sought legal guidance on 2019 changes to the Maritime Transport Act - “specifically section 33M, which focuses on the council’s mandate to make rules for the purpose of navigation safety”.

“The advice confirmed the bylaws needed revision to comply with current legislation, especially personal watercraft exclusions in Ōhiwa Harbour, which were originally introduced in 1998 to protect the harbour’s natural character,” Fraser said.

The updated boating rules for the Bay of Plenty were adopted at a regional council meeting in September and will come into force midway through next year.

Under the current bylaw, personal watercraft such as jet skis are excluded from most parts of the harbour except certain areas, such as a channel between the Port Ōhope boat ramp and the entrance.

Under the new bylaw, the exclusion zone will be replaced with a 5-knot rule that will apply to all vessels for most parts of the harbour.

The speed limit is due to its extensive sand bars, mud flats and increasing sedimentation build-up, which are hazardous to navigate at speed.

There will also be a 20-knot transit area for entering and exiting the harbour from the Ōhope and Ōhiwa Loop Rd boat ramps.

Collins is not a lone voice against jet skis having free run of the harbour.

Kayak tour operator Kenny McCracken said there had been instances in the past where children were run over.

“Jet skis have also run into sandbars several times in the past few years.”

Ōhiwa Harbour.

Nukuhou Care Group’s Stuart Slade said jet skis did not fit the culture of the harbour.

“The open water areas of the harbour are too limited an area for jet skis, especially at low tides when 80% of the area is above water.

“Shallow water covering a multitude of sand bars are not always easy to see.

“Jet skis do not fit the culture of the greater part of the harbour. I can see jet skis in much of the harbour being a real safety risk for themselves, kayakers, swimmers and fishers.”

Eastern Bay of Plenty Forest and Bird secretary Lynne Hickling said she was concerned about the safety of birds on the harbour.

“There are hundreds of birds that roost and feed on the Kutarere channel and these would be very disturbed if jet skis were to be able to hoon up and down there.”

Te Upokorehe iwi representative Trevor Ransfield said, as tangata whenua, Te Upokorehe had always disapproved of jet skis in the harbour, especially in the area around the boat ramp on the eastern side of the harbour.

“Our mokopuna fish there, our mokopuna swim there, and having jets skis being able to launch at Loop Rd is a danger to all our children.”

The residents met with Fraser recently to share their concerns.

They were told the regional council’s harbourmaster had lobbied unsuccessfully against jet skis with Maritime New Zealand.

The regional council had also talked to Whakatāne and Ōpōtiki district councils about measures they could take to prevent jet skis from being allowed on the harbour.

“We considered the possibility of maintaining the status quo restrictions via a local bylaw and a Resource Management Act transfer agreement with Ōpōtiki District Council and Whakatāne District Council,” Fraser said.

“While we engaged both councils on this possibility, it ultimately did not proceed.”

Among their concerns was how the 5-knot rule would be enforced.

Fraser said the regional council’s usual approach to new bylaws was to educate people in the first instance, but enforcement remained an option where necessary.

“This summer, we’ll have dedicated patrols in Ōhiwa Harbour, supported by students, and will use updated signage, educational materials, and geotargeted messaging. As with other public safety measures, however, our resources cannot guarantee constant coverage.”

- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.