Boat users ‘not going

Small boat users looking to maintain recreational access to Delaware Bay are keen to work towards a ‘‘fresh start’’ with council, but insist they are not going away either.

Members of the Delaware Bay Access Group were at Civic House on Thursday, to state their case before the Nelson City Council’s Community and Recreation Committee of the need to maintain boat access rights from the Bishop’s Peninsula launch site at Maori Pa Rd. The issue has been a sticking point between the council, small boast users, and Nga¯ti Tama over the past 20 years, due to the murky legal standing of the site.

While under the Nelson Regional Management Plan (NRMP) access has not technically been allowed since 2001, council had not taken any steps to enforce the rule until 2020 – when enforcement officers began monitoring boat launching activity at Delaware

Bay and advising people driving vehicles on the estuary that launching and retrieving boats was not permitted.

Council is currently in the process of appealing to the Environment Court to clarify the NRMP provisions.

The issue also involves local iwi Nga¯ti Tama who support the ban, with the land in question being the site of a sacred urupa (burial ground).

However, boaties using the launch point maintain the site is the only suitable and safe access into Delaware Bay.

They have also said the environ