Northland's adventure activity operators will be closed down if they do not meet new safety standards for the industry, Labour Minister Simon Bridges has warned.
Mr Bridges was in Whangarei yesterday to visit Adventure Forest in Glenbervie, the first, and so far only, Northland adventure activity operator to be fully registered under the Health and Safety in Employment (Adventure Activities) Regulations.
The deadline for businesses to meet the requirements of the regulations is November 1 and while many of the 25 Northland adventure activity operators are in the process of meeting the new standards, Adventure Forest is the first.
The regulations relate to those that operate a wide range of outdoor adventure pursuits, including abseiling, caving, scuba diving, high rope crossing, zip wiring, kayaking, quad biking, bungy jumping, rock climbing (if done outdoors), canoeing and mountaineering.
Mr Bridges said Adventure Forest was an example to others in the region of the benefits of having met the standards and having its operation registered under the regulations.