Delaware Bay boaties monitored
Users of the contentious boat launch area on the Wakapauaka estuary will be given a gentle reminder to go easy on the foreshore as a mutual solution to access is decided in the coming months.
Nelson City Council enforcement officers have begun monitoring boat launching activity at Delaware Bay, advising people that under the Nelson Resource Management Plan (NRMP), driving vehicles on the estuary to launch and retrieve boats and disturbance of the foreshore by vehicles, is not permitted.
While vehicle access was technically forbidden, the council has not enforced that rule since 2001.
Breaching the rules can result in warnings, fines and abatement notices. However, according to council compliance manager Brent Edwards, officers would be taking on a more edu- cational approach and were keen to keep it ‘‘pretty low-key at this stage’’.
‘‘The challenges for our staff will obviously be if others decide to make it not so low-key. We’re hoping the message will be well received, but you just don’t know.’’
The estuary has become a popular boat launching site for the local fishing and boating community because of its comparative safety and ease of access to fishing grounds.
Residents and local iwi want to protect the culturally significant area and want access stopped, while fishers want the council to lodge a resource consent to provide for access over a defined route of a 20-metre-wide official accessway across the estuary.
The council’s group manager environmental management, Clare Barton, said feedback from both iwi and boaties in recent weeks had been in line with the established opinions of the last 20 years.
A further report would be prepared, she said. However, pending meetings with iwi and boaties, educational compliance would take place in the interim.