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Dr John calls time on role P3
ECan navigation safety officer Timothy Ashton talks to Cameron Ross and four year old Flynn Ross about water safety during a visit to Lake Hood by members of the Coast Guard team. PHOTO TETSURO MITOMO 231217-TM-022
Lake Hood leads way in boat safety BY SUE NEWMAN
SUE.N@THEGUARDIAN.CO.NZ
IN TODAY’S GUARDIAN
A boat registration scheme trialled at Lake Hood could soon become a national requirement for all boats using freshwater lakes. Lake Hood became a national leader with the boat registration scheme about three years ago and its success means it is set to become compulsory in Canterbury and later across the country, said the lake’s management committee chairman Bryan Donaldson. “About three or four years ago we put the idea to ECan. They were supportive and at the start they paid for the registration stickers as part of the trial. It’s now $20 but the lake has become the place of choice for people from Christchurch now and that one-off fee is cheap for a
community owned facility that’s free to use,” he said. Currently the number of registrations stands at 1700 with more than half of those out of the district boats. It means that each boat using the lake can be easily identified by its registration number. A visit to the lake by Canterbury Coast Guard safety officers recently gave the lake and its civilian jet ski patrols a big tick of approval for their success in ensuring boaties played by the rules, Donaldson said. “Their comment to us was you just keep doing what you’re doing. They said they wished every lake in the region was like Lake Hood.” Coast Guard safety officers spent several hours at the lake talking to boaties and handing out safety information
ahead of an anticipated hectic January. “They were really there just to back up our patrols.” The strong emphasis that’s been placed on safety on the lake has meant there have been few incidents over the 15 years the facility had been open, Donaldson said. “We’re pretty happy with the way things are going and the registration has certainly helped; people seem to understand they’re more accountable when they can be identified.” Life jackets are also compulsory on the lake and compliance is generally pretty high, he said. January was generally peak time for lake use and local patrols would be out in force during that time to ensure all users played by the rules, Donaldson said.
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