As a neighbour of and seasonal user of Lake Ngatu for recreational boating, my five children and I are not in agreement with the sentiments expressed by Ngai Takota spokesman Rangitane Marsden as reported (Power boat ban on Lake Ngatu, December 8).
Recreational boating at peak timesin the summer may see a maximum of five boats operating at once with skiers or biscuits, each usually accompanied by a couple of families picnicking and enjoying a safe family day out in the sun. The boats I would say do more to aerate and oxygenate water than 'stir up nutrients locked into the thick layer of sediment on the bottom of the lake,' as claimed in the article.
Rather than become joy robbers, can the committee of 'key parties' keep the focus on the real source of pollution and nutrients entering the lake?
From our families' observations, four (issues) unreported in the article are: vehicles coming off 90 Mile Beach and using the lake as a drive-thru ute wash, families using the lake with soap and shampoo to wash, rubbish and nappies dumped around the lake margins, and direct human defecation.
I know that I refer to an unseemly side of human interaction with Lake Ngatu, but it is a real side.
Targeting families who are recreational boat users on the lake and endeavouring to barricade them out is a red herring, a knee-jerk reaction and particularly mean-spirited.
