MEDIA RELEASE

22 September 2016

New Navigation Safety Bylaw promotes safety and having fun on the water

Environment Canterbury today completed the review of its Navigation Safety Bylaw, which aims to improve safety for all water-users in Canterbury.

The Navigation Safety Bylaw 2016 – which will come into force on 10 October – has been reviewed to ensure consistency with national legislation, and to accommodate changes made to certain clauses in response to submissions made on the Bylaw.

Environment Canterbury Harbourmaster Captain Jim Dilley said the Harbourmaster’s Office will work with all water users to raise awareness of the new parts of the Bylaw and to help people to comply with any new requirements.

“We want to take some time to make people aware of the new rules and chat through any questions people may have. We want people to have a safe, fun day on the water and then have them return to their family and friends at the end of the day,” Capt. Dilley said.

The amended clauses include the mandatory wearing of personal floatation devices (PFDs) on all vessels that are six metres in length or less. This now includes paddle craft and non-powered vessels such as kayaks and paddleboards.

All vessels using the region’s waterways and coast will be required to have vessel identification. The identification will be the trailer registration number for those vessels on trailers, and for other vessels will be the commercial vessel number, sporting-organisation number, radio call sign or other approved unique identification such as the owner’s name and phone number written inside for small boats like kayaks.

“Our enforcement officers will be on the water during the summer period helping people get used to the new requirements. We do not see this being an overnight change and we will educate and work with everyone to make it a normal part of boating over time,” Capt. Dilley said.

Later this year, Environment Canterbury will release a Canterbury Regional Boating Guide. This will include a plain-language overview of boating rules and maps showing useful boating information such as the location of boat ramps and service centres. This will be available online for anyone to download.

The guide will be improved each year as boaters and clubs throughout Canterbury add vital information which they feel should be included.

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