Editorial: Sounds safety is Govt responsibility

OPINION: Way back in 2004 Maritime NZ developed a Port and Harbour Marine Safety Code. Regional councils and port companies were then tasked with conducting risk assessments for their areas.

Marlborough District Council contracted consultants Marico Marine NZ, who completed a Marlborough Sounds harbour navigation risk assessment in 2005 and advised the council to introduce a harbour safety management system and plan.

The cost of putting additional safety measures in place, calculated by Marico Marine, would have lifted the existing annual cost to the council of $500,000 a year to $1.7m, an increase of $1.2m.

Since then there has been much debate about who will carry the cost of the increased safety measures.

Council says Government should foot the bill. In March, 2006, Marlborough mayor Alistair Sowman and chief executive Andrew Besley went to Parliament to put their case to then transport safety minister Harry Duynhoven. They were not successful. Later that year former prime minister Helen Clark scoffed at the idea of the Sounds being an extension of State Highway 1 and therefore Government's responsibility.

After much toing and froing the council came up with a proposed navigation bylaw, which has been met with resistance from pretty much everyone who makes use of the Sounds waterways.

During the submission hearings last week council was accused of "arse covering" by some and "money grabbing" by others.

The reports on which the bylaw is based have also been attacked and labelled as "years out of date", with claims they did not take account of improvements that have been made since their release.

Nobody can deny the need for safety measures in the Sounds, which are a boatie's paradise – but there is also potential for tragedy. This is highlighted by several accidents in the Sounds, including the death of a boatie when his launch and the Santa Regina ferry collided.

The thorny issue is what the safety measures should be and who should pay for them.

The Government continues to duck its responsibility by saying that the cost should be user pays. However, the users already pay through taxes. Passengers pay GST on their ferry fares. That tax goes to the Government which could use some of it to pay for the safety measures.

Government must not be allowed to shirk its responsibility. Despite the views of some, Cook Strait and the Marlborough Sounds are the maritime equivalent of the national state highway system and that makes it the Government's responsibility. The Government cannot pass the buck to "users", who are already paying taxes to the Government. It is these taxes which should be used to fund any required safety measures – not the people of Marlborough.

- The Marlborough Express