Float your ideas on the district’s rules for waterways

Feedback on rules for our district's waterways closed on Sunday 19 November 2023.

Ahoy, water-lovers and river roamers! It’s time to don your lifejackets and float your ideas on how waterways in the Queenstown Lakes District are managed, to help develop a draft Navigation Safety Bylaw 2024.

Residents and visitors cherish the incredible lakes and rivers we’re blessed with in the district, and the safe and accessible recreational opportunities these waterways offer are highly valued. Council has a responsibility to manage potential conflicts between different activities so that everyone can safely enjoy our lakes and rivers.

Our current bylaw applies to the navigable waters and foreshore within the district and aims to manage water-based activities so everyone can enjoy smooth and safe sailing on our lakes and rivers.

• QLDC Navigation Safety Bylaw 2018

Council is required to review its bylaws every five years, and in some cases every ten years. The Navigation Safety Bylaw 2018 is now coming up for its five-year review.

How’s the management of our waterways working for you?

We’re looking early insights and ideas, both big and small, for how you and your community feel about the Navigation Safety Bylaw 2018.

If you have any feedback on the bylaw, including what you think is working well, what could be removed, changed or introduced, then we want to hear from you!

We’re also looking for specific feedback on a range of water-related topics, including:

• lifejacket use,
• the location of ski lanes on several lakes,
• board tethering to ensure safe use of ‘The Wave’ on the Hāwea River
• Council’s role in relation to people jumping recreationally off the Albert Town Bridge
• vessel identification, and
• events on the water.

And, we’d welcome your thoughts on any other aspects of the current bylaw that you may be interested in or concerned about.

Have your say

Feedback closed on Sunday 19 November 2023.

What’s next?

Your insights into how our waterways are currently being managed will be reviewed and considered to help us determine what changes should be made to the current bylaw.

A draft Navigation Safety Bylaw will then go before Councillors for endorsement before it is made available for formal submissions mid-to-late 2024.