Horizons Regional Council to work in partnership on Whanganui River navigation rules

A sign at the slipway near the Whanganui River Top 10 Holiday Park lays out rules for boaties. Photo / Bevan Conley

Horizons Regional Council, instead of taking the lead in setting navigation rules for the Whanganui River, has opted to work with Iwi and Coastguard instead.

In the absence of a river bylaw, which Horizons could set, basic Maritime New Zealand navigation rules currently apply to boats using the river, and Te Awa Tupua legislation now made Whanganui iwi key players in setting river protocols, Horizons chairwoman Rachel Keedwell said.

"It's a matter of working out what it looks like under Te Awa Tupua, and allowing the river to lead it," Keedwell said.

"We are actively working on those decisions."

Horizons has been funding Whanganui's Coastguard organisation with $10,000 a year to educate boaties on maritime safety.

Coastguard president Garry Hawkins said he was aware that Whanganui Iwi would have a bigger role now.

He was unsure who would do things like replacing river channel markers that get washed away in floods.

"Someone needs to take responsibility and I don't know who it is these days," Hawkins said.

It may appear that the matter had been parked up, Keedwell said, but it was certainly not being ignored. Horizons ratepayers may have a role in funding any new protocols.

Horizons was now looking to Te Awa Tupua Surface Water Activities Group to guide any regulations that were over and above the standard navigation rules set by Maritime New Zealand, Horizons' emergency management manager Ian Lowe said.

Maritime New Zealand rules include basics like the obligation to listen and look ahead and keep a safe speed, and protocols for giving way and overtaking.

Under those rules speed on the river is limited to 5 knots/9km/h within 200m of the river shores - effectively the entire river. Jetskis habitually operate at higher speeds, and waterskiing needs 30 to 50km/h.

The river has no "speed uplift" areas set aside for higher speed activities, but is used by motor vessels travelling faster than that.

"It's just one of those rules that nobody adheres to because it's impractical in a river situation," George Matthews, who leads canoe tours, said.

Most boaties on the river were considerate, he said.

The main safety measure he wanted to see was everyone in a boat wearing lifejackets. He said he had noticed "big tough guys" taking off their lifejackets when it was hot.

"It's a little bit distressing for me to see that," Matthews said.

Last week Whanganui River iwi concerned about the risk of collision between canoeists and jetboaters announced they would put a team of monitors on the water to ensure the safety of river users.

Ngāti Hāua Iwi Trust is working with river tribes entity Ngā Tāngata Tiaki o Whanganui on a plan for improved communications with operators and proactive monitoring of behaviour on the river.

Ngā Tāngata Tiaki o Whanganui chairwoman Sheena Maru said all users had a responsibility both to themselves and those they shared the river with. The plan would promote Covid safety as well as navigational safety.

However, only regional councils can make river bylaws and Horizons has done so for one river in its patch - the lower Manawatū River.

Whanganui mayor Hamish McDouall has repeatedly asked Horizons to put the Whanganui River under the Manawatū bylaw. He made the last request in long term plan submissions in May.

McDouall was contacted for comment.