Police limit on Cup water role

By Philip English

Auckland Regional Council members are unhappy that the police have refused to take on the council's navigational safety role during America's Cup racing.

Councillors wanted to delegate the ARC's harbourmaster role to the police to save ratepayer money.

The police have 13 patrol boats available for cup work but the ARC has only one vessel to make sure the thousands of spectator craft behave.

The council will call on the Navy and Coast Guard for help but believes it needs a total of three patrol craft. After one sponsorship deal fell through a new sponsor is being sought for the two additional boats.

The ARC approach was described as minimalist at its meeting this week.

The chief executive, Jo Brosnahan, said the council had tried to delegate its powers "but the police made it clear their responsibility lay with police-type measures."

Councillor Jack Henderson said the council was left with a raw deal.

Members were told that unlike the finishes and starts of round-the-world races, which were dispersed over relatively wide areas with around 1500 spectator craft, America's Cup racing would probably bring 4000 or more boats to the harbour day after day.

It will be the ARC's job to make sure craft use the right lanes and channels to get to the race area, keep to speed limits and ensure they follow navigational rules such as not exceeding five knots within 30m of another boat.

ARC harbourmaster James McPetrie said he was convinced the ARC and the police would work together.

"I see both forces acting very much in harmony ... We will rely on the goodwill which has been built up over the last 10 to 12 years to deal with whatever problems arise."

Robyn Orchard, police special operations media manager, agreed there would be some overlap as the police paid attention to law and order and public safety on the water.

"We will not be playing the role of the ARC but when there are issues of public safety then, yes, police will deal with them."