By ALISON HORWOOD
When a fast ferry passes through Tory Channel, Hepe Beech knows he has less than a minute to get out of the water.
The 10-year-old may be standing only in the shallows, but the ferry's wake, building to as much as 2m as it moves towards the shore with waves that break for several minutes, is enough to knock him off his feet.
Five years ago, the Marlborough District Council and Sounds residents and holidaymakers lost a battle in the Environment Court to protect their waterways by keeping the Cook Strait fast ferries out.
But last month they won a small victory when the council passed a bylaw, which comes into force 10 days before Christmas, restricting ferry speeds in Tory Channel and Queen Charlotte Sound to 18 knots for public safety.
Hepe's father, Peter Beech, who heads Guardians of the Sounds, says that although the bylaw is based on public safety, it is impossible to separate that from environmental issues.
"The wake that knocks us over is the same one that damages our property."
Not only is the wash dangerous for boaties and swimmers, he says, but it has removed cubic metres of sand from the foreshore and has caused irreparable environmental damage.
Mr Beech says only luck has prevented a tragedy, because the wake is capable of overturning boats in the shallows and knocking swimmers off their feet.
If the ferry companies successfully challenge the bylaw, he intends to organise a protest flotilla of hundreds of boats to slow the ferries.
Chris Warren, who runs the Lazy Fish Guest House in Queen Charlotte Sound, says half his clients arrive on fast ferries, but he would rather lose the business than see the effects of environmental damage.
Mayor Gerald Hope says the bylaw will add 30 minutes to the 1 hour 45 minutes sailing time of the fast ferries Lynx and Top Cat.
But the cost in time is justified to reduce the risk to life and safety, he says.
Not only will the smaller wake cause fewer problems for boaties and swimmers in shallow water, but it will enable the fast ferries to stop more quickly in an emergency.
Some observers say the speed restriction may spell the end of fast ferry services or be the start of another lengthy court battle.
Neither Tranz Rail nor Fast Cat Ferries has indicated its next move, but under the Bylaw Act 1910 they can appeal to the High Court.
Tranz Rail spokeswoman Nicola McFaull says fast ferries are catering to a growing market because daytrippers and weekend visitors do not want to spend half a day getting to Picton.
The bylaw will reduce the difference between the crossing times for conventional ferries and fast ferries to 45 minutes, so the 30 per cent premium for a faster crossing may no longer be worth the price.
The result will be that not just the ferry firms, but wineries, restaurants and hotels will miss out, she says.
In its submission, Tranz Rail said the risk from accidents related to fast ferry wakes was only marginally greater than that from pleasure boating. No serious injuries had been reported since the service began five years ago, and last year only six minor injuries were reported.
According to a Tranz Rail risk analysis, one serious injury every two years and one death every 33 years could be expected.
Tranz Rail said that even the Maritime Safety Authority did not support a speed restriction and the risk analysis report on which the council based its argument had serious deficiencies.
The authority's acting director, Tony Martin, who convened a Tory Channel Navigational Safety Group made up of the harbourmaster and a cross-section of maritime users, said in his submission that the group agreed almost unanimously that safety concerns could be met without a speed restriction.
He said the council's concerns seemed to be centred on or around the foreshore, including environmental or property damage, which was outside his jurisdiction.
It would be better to delay the bylaw and introduce various measures to monitor the ferries over a period of time, he said.
Fast Cat Ferries executive director Keith Pybus says the extra time will make a big difference to companies moving time-sensitive freight across Cook Strait.
It will also be more costly and difficult to fit three return cycles into one day, he says.
In its submission, the company said the bylaw was a crude attempt to circumvent the Resource Management Act process.
The council lacked scientific justification for it and had introduced it without enough consultation.
Speed bumps in troubled waters
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