Water safety needed to avert tragedies

Four drowning tragedies in the Manawatū River in Palmerston North within a week over summer have prompted calls for water safety measures to be put in place.

Water Safety New Zealand is leading a project to identify risks and have actions in place this summer to help prevent drownings.

And Ngāti Hineaute Hapu Authority is working on a proposal to deploy Rangitāne River Rangers from 2024 to help visitors to the river to appreciate its values and stay safe.

Both organisations have made submissions to the city council regarding its proposed annual budget.

Water Safety chief executive Dan Gerrard said what happened last summer at Ahimate Beach in Awapuni was an ‘‘absolute tragedy’’.

Blae Ler Paw, 11, and Mu Mu, 27, went missing in the river on December 29, and their bodies were recovered later.

Two men, Toetu Tonisitino, 39, and Aukusitino Ioane, 25, drowned there on January 2. The weather was hot, and the river was in high flow.

Gerrard said while wanting to encourage a love of the aquatic environment, education to develop safety skills and minimise risky behaviour was important.

Water Safety was working with a range of other groups on how to develop a local solution for Palmerston North’s particular challenges.

The first step would be to carry out an audit of the risks around three or four popular swimming holes, and develop recommendations for what could be put in place before the heat of summer.

It could involve new signage, including graphics that were generally understood, and protocols around how to formalise and inform people when there was a rāhui placed on the awa.

Kaihautū Māori Rob Hewitt said the first year of work would cost about $25,000, with Search and Rescue already granting $10,000 to kick off the initial risk assessments.

Water Safety was looking for further financial help from the city council.

He said the important thing was to have some safety measures, whether lifeguards, volunteers, equipment or signage, in place before people began gathering at the river again late this year.

Ngāti Hineaute spokesman Chris Whaiapu said the hapū supported and encouraged the Water Safety work as a starting point, but had a longer-term plan to have more people monitoring access to the river.

He said Rangitāne had worked successfully with the city council to attract more people to the river, which was good to see.

However, with increased foot traffic came an increase in risky and nuisance behaviour in the absence of anyone monitoring activity, especially at the river access locations.

Whaiapu said the idea of river rangers had been under discussion sine 2018.

The rangers could have a role similar to the city ambassadors in Te Marae o Hine/The Square, helping visitors, protecting the river, telling its stories, looking after the environment, helping to keep people safe, and being prepared as first responders if things went wrong.

The proposal was that those roles would be refined as a part of the Te Motu o Poutoa reserve management plan, and could come into force from 2024.

. . . what happened last summer at Ahimate Beach in Awapuni was an ‘‘absolute tragedy’’.