A proposal to reduce waterski lanes to 60m wide in two Lake Wānaka locations has been criticised in public submissions.

Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) regulatory manager Anthony Hall said in recent summers swimmers and lake users have been entering boating areas and causing safety concerns.

As a result, the council is proposing to reduce ski lane widths at Glendhu Bay and Roys Bay (as well as four other Queenstown Lakes locations) to 60m wide, and install new signage and buoys.

QLDC’s proposed changes to ski lanes at Roys Bay. 

Submitter Graeme Fraser said the proposal to narrow both existing Glendhu Bay ski lanes from 230m (western) and 170m (eastern) to 60m lanes would create an “extremely dangerous” situation, especially over the holiday period. 

“By making the ski lanes smaller you would force boats and skiers closer together when both taking off from the beach and dropping off,” Graeme said in his submission. 

He was one of many submitters who said the proposal could lead to collisions between boaties and swimmers.

“I suggest that it would make it more dangerous for swimmers and other water users because if the ski lane becomes congested there will be spill over out of the ski lane into the swimming area to avoid collisions.”

Vaughan Greenfield said the existing lane widths at Glendhu Bay were working well.

“Narrowing a ski lane to make it… 25 percent of its original size will cause mayhem, especially at the busy holiday destinations.”

The proposed changes at Glendhu Bay. 

Proposed changes at Roys Bay also got the thumbs down from many people for similar reasons.

There the council has proposed shifting the existing ski lane west down the beach, with the existing west marker pole becoming the east marker pole; reducing the beach frontage from 190m to 60; and having the Roys Bay swimming area 50m offshore and west of the proposed new ski lane location.

Wānaka Lake Swimmers group members Camille Guilick and Jenny Howe both made submissions opposing the proposal. 

Camille said moving the Roys Bay ski lane closer to the swimming area would “significantly increase” the risk to swimmers, and noted that the area QLDC has identified as the swimming area on the map is often not deep enough to swim in, “so swimmers need to go outside this area”.

Jenny asked the council to keep waterskiers “as far as possible” from the non-powered craft area.

A personal submission by Coastguard Wānaka Lakes (CWL) president Jonathan Walmisley was one of a handful which pointed out that other beaches were much more congested with water users and questioned why changes were only proposed for Glendhu Bay and Roys Bay.

Not all submissions were in opposition: A handful of submitters said they believed the proposal would increase safety and others argued that boats should be banned completely from beaches popular with swimmers.

QLDC said its waterway team was now reviewing the feedback from the public. 

PHOTO: Wānaka App