‘Someone is going to die’
Paremata swimmers risking their lives
Someone will die if people don’t stop illegally swimming around the Paremata Boat Ramp, a Whitby boatie says.
Jeff Saunders said that in just the past week he had had three close calls, including almost running over a toddler.
‘‘Someone is going to die. It’s as simple as that. Not maybe. Someone is going to die,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s dangerous. This is where boats come in.’’
People had always disobeyed the rules and swum on the boating beach, he said. But an abnor- mally hot January meant families had been out in droves and many were parking their vehicles on the ramp.
Saunders said on a busy day up to 200 people could be in the water, with many boats trying to get in.
‘‘It has got multitudes worse. They don’t have any fear.’’
‘‘You are so scared someone is going to pop out of the water. It’s terrible. You have got to be so careful here.
‘‘It blows my head off every day I see it.’’
Saunders said he didn’t understand why people could not move 300 metres to the left and swim legally on a beach.
‘‘It’s not like we don’t have any beaches. This is our one beach it’s illegal to swim at.’’
There are four ‘‘ no swimming’’ signs on the ramp, but all are small.
A starting point would be to put in bigger signs at the entrance and in the water, Saunders said.
‘‘I asked the guy at the council what it was going to take. A death? Because that’s what it will come down to.’’
Wellington Regional harbour master Mike Pryce said the situation was ‘‘somewhat confused’’.
Part of the problem lay in that while Wellington Regional Council had responsibility for the area below the high tide mark, where navigational and safety bylaws apply, the beach above high tide mark and boat ramp area was under the control of Porirua City Council and the Mana Road Bridge was owned and operated by NZ Transport Agency.
After calls from Kapi-Mana News last week, Pryce said monitoring of the area and security would be increased.
‘‘There are so many risks present in this area and concern for both boaties and swimmers is high, so the regional council has contracted additional help to manage the situation,’’ Pryce said.
‘‘ Ultimately it is up to individuals to make sure they are not putting themselves and others in danger.’’
Though jumping off the road and rail bridges had always been a problem, he said the swimmers on the ramp had been more aggressive this year, with reports of some almost ‘‘ fighting the boaties for the beach’’.
During summer, harbour rangers regularly visited the site, he said, but as of last Thursday afternoon a security firm had been contracted to patrol and monitor activities in the area.