My Account
Auckland Council’s suggestion that the Arkles Bay prohibition of set netting bylaw be allowed to lapse brought some big guns into the fray.
Compelling evidence presented to the local board by Cameron Slater and Alan Sayers last month forced Council to change tack and work towards retaining a year-round ban that would be unique in Auckland.
As part of a review of all bylaws, Council staff had sought the local board’s agreement that the bylaw, which imposes a year-round ban on set netting, should be allowed to lapse on October 31, due to lack of evidence.
Monitoring over summer netted just two complaints regarding the practice in Arkles Bay – however, residents point out that with the bylaw still in place that was hardly surprising.
At last month’s Hibiscus & Bays Local Board meeting in Browns Bay, on May 20, residents came prepared with hard evidence, gathered as recently as last summer, that the ban is working.
Whale Oil blogger Cameron Slater has lived in Arkles Bay for around nine months. He told board members, Council staff and a packed public gallery that after he retrieved a 50m long set net from the water last December, he was followed home and abused by “an angry buffoon”.
Mr Slater photographed and videoed the incident as well as reporting it to Council.
Alan Sayers, aged 99, spoke on behalf of the Arkles Bay Community Committee, which represents several hundred residents. He said the community “danced in the street” when the bylaw was enacted in March 2007 and that it has worked to perfection. “The entire community is aghast that it could go,” he said.
He presented a summary of evidence accumulated over five years when set netting was a regular occurrence in the bay, including reports of swimmers put at risk.
“Arkles Bay’s point of difference is that it’s directly connected to a marine reserve, which makes it attractive to set netters,” he said. “That is a vital factor in our submission.”
Local board chair Julia Parfitt says the evidence was extremely valuable, allowing the board to recommend to the governing body that the existing bylaw remain in force until a new, total set net control can be put in place under the Public Safety & Nuisance Bylaw.
“The council report said there was no evidence that the ban was needed, but those presentations countered that with current and compelling proof,” she said.
After hearing the evidence, Council’s social policy and bylaws manager Michael Sinclair said that because the Public Safety & Nuisance Bylaw is focused on seasonal bans, work would be needed to apply it all year round.
He said he could see the justification for this in Arkles Bay.
The next step is to put the issue before the Regulatory and Bylaws Committee this month to signal that more work is to be done.
A final decision is expected from that committee in September or October.
