Paddlers win $28k island shift

POWER THROUGH: Creating a lane for dragon boats and waka ama on Henley Lake will involve scooping up two-thirds of the island shown in the centre of this aerial photograph.

Wairarapa dragon boaters and waka ama competitors are going to get a straight course on Masterton's Henley Lake after a decision was made yesterday to "rearrange" one of the lake's three islands to make space for it.

Masterton District Council voted to put aside $28,000 so earthmoving machinery could scoop up about two-thirds of an island and reattach it to the other side of the remaining part, thereby creating a 554-metre long by 60m wide training and competition lane.

The original idea, floated by deputy mayor Graham McClymont, had been to completely remove an island known as Willow Island, but now the work will involve a different island - the one in the centre of the lake.

Mr McClymont's plan did away with an earlier council proposal to investigate getting rid of the lake's three islands and reconfiguring the lake itself, a plan that could have cost up to $2.73 million.

At a full council meeting yesterday, Mr McClymont confirmed that the relocation of two-thirds of one island by two diggers costing $140 an hour each should easily be achieved within the revised budget of $28,000.

Council officers will now look at tidying up details so the work can begin as soon as possible, after checks have been made with Greater Wellington Regional Council that the work would be within existing consents. The level of the lake would be dropped slightly to let the work go ahead and any sediment would be discharged on to wetlands so it did not go into the Ruamahanga River.

Before unanimously voting to support the work being done, councillors had been spoken to by Lindy Daniell and Susan Kingsford of the Henley Lake Users Group.

Mrs Daniell said a dragon boat regatta was planned for Henley Lake on November 29. The changes would not only allow boat crews to train but also alert others throughout the country to the fact that Masterton had a course which could offer 1000m and 2000m races.

Waka ama was fully supportive of the change to the lake too, said Ms Kingsford.

She said there was no single facility in the lower North Island that could cater for the needs of waka ama, which was a growing sport, having 600 paddlers in the lower North Island and 2000 throughout the country.

Councillors were aware that another stage of the lake's redevelopment would be to deepen some sections, which would fit in better with users, especially waka ama, and to one day lengthen the lane to 570m.

The bargain basement cost of the work being planned, especially compared to the first idea of getting rid of all the islands, appealed to councillors.

Councillor Simon O'Donoghue said he thought it was "a brilliant idea".

Councillor Gary Caffell said a look back at the history of the lake showed that right from the outset Henley Lake had been designed for water sports.

Moves are also afoot to mitigate weed and algal bloom problems at the lake by improving the flow of water through it.