Changes to Canterbury jet boating rules

A jet boater on the Waimakariri River (Emma Cropper / Newshub.)
A jet boater on the Waimakariri River (Emma Cropper / Newshub.)

Canterbury rivers will be off limits to anyone without a permit if a new bylaw gets the green light.

Environment Canterbury is proposing the change which will come into effect in late July. It's hoped it will help monitor jet boaters as well as keeping them safe. 

Boats cannot go faster than five knots within 200 metres of the shoreline. The permit means jet boat drivers will be able to exceed five knots in rivers, as most aren't wider than 200 metres.  

Bruce Norris fixes jet boats and says the Waimakariri River can be very busy in the summer.

"In the height of summer in a weekend you could have 15 to 20 boats out here at once," he says.

Most drivers are pretty good but you do see the odd unsafe one, he says.

"You always sort of treat everyone as if they don't know [the rules]."

Speeding, passing and giving way were of particular concern to Mr Norris. The permits will bring awareness around jet boating in the river, he says, and if it makes people safer, then he thought it was a good thing. 

"Hopefully there'll be some focus on boating etiquette and safety."

Jet Boating New Zealand president David Street says at the moment anybody can buy a boat and take it to a river having no education about the rules or proper safety.

"Through Jet Boating New Zealand we can offer help to people to be able to enjoy their boating more," he says.

Jet Boating NZ releases an annual safety book including a checklist for what to have in your boat as well as a quarterly magazine with articles around safety and updates.

Of concern is people knowing the "basic rules of the river", Mr Street says, and being courteous to other river users like fisherman.

With the proposed changes, boat drivers will be able to make use of the five knot speed uplifting.

"They'll be able to travel over five knots, which you have to on a jet boat, you can't go under 5 knots or you'll be sitting on the bottom," he says.

Mr Street says Jet Boating NZ will gain revenue out of it but it will be put straight back into safety measures. He would like to have a full-time, permanent safety officer and maintain facilities like boat ramps.

"We're not the regulators, we're the educators," he says.

There's varied responses about the proposed changes on an online hunting and shooting forum.

One user asked if it was a way of forcing people to join and another asked how becoming a member makes you a safe driver.

Boat drivers can apply for a permit through joining Jet Boating NZ or applying to ECan. ECan says they won't be policing the rivers, but encourage other river users to report any unsafe activity. 

Newshub.