Part 5 - Operating requirements

Current version

21. Aircraft

(1) A person in charge of a vessel must not impede an aircraft in the process of landing or taking off.
(2) Except in an emergency, a person must not take off, land or attempt to take off or land an aircraft:

(a) on navigable waters; or
(b) from any vessel, wharf, quay, jetty, pontoon or structure within any waterway; without the permission of the Harbourmaster; except that permission of the Harbourmaster is not required for operation of aircraft on the following waters:

  • Lake Tekapo / Takapo
  • Lake Pukaki
  • Lake Ohau
  • Lake Benmore / Te Ao Marama
  • Lake Aviemore / Mahi Tikumu, except Loch Laird
  • Lake Waitaki
  • Lake Coleridge / Whakamatau
  • The Operational Area of the Port of Lyttelton provided permission has been granted by LPC
  • The Operational Area of the Port of Timaru provided permission has been granted by PPT

Proposed change

21. Aircraft

(1) A person in charge of a vessel must not impede an aircraft in the process of landing or taking off.

(2) Except in an emergency, a person must not take off, land or attempt to take off or land an aircraft :

(a) on navigable waters; or

(2) from the water, any vessel, wharf, quay, jetty, pontoon or structure within: any waterway;

without the permission of the Harbourmaster; except that permission of the Harbourmaster is not required for operation of aircraft on the following waters:

Lake Tekapo / Takapo

Lake Pukaki

Lake Ohau

Lake Benmore / Te Ao Marama

Lake Aviemore / Mahi Tikumu, except Loch Laird

Lake Waitaki

Lake Coleridge / Whakamatau

(a) The Operational Area of the Port of Lyttelton provided without permission havings been granted by LPC, or the Harbourmaster in consultation with LPC; or

(b) The Operational Area of the Port of Timaru provided without permission havings been granted by PPT or the Harbourmaster in consultation with PPT.

Rationale for change

This rule was carried over from previous bylaws but it lacks a clear safety case, given that aircraft on water are, legally, power-driven vessels under national rules. As such, their activity is already regulated in terms of safe navigation and interaction with other vessels. The original rule appears to have been written primarily for the purpose of controlling noise, so should be removed as it's not a matter of maritime safety and so not allowed within the bylaw making powers granted to regional councils by s33 of the MTA 1994. The exception, as retained adjacent, would be retaining a control on the activity in the port areas, to enable a higher level of risk reduction in terms of possible conflict with large, less manoeuverable vessels within the confines of the ports' approaches. Matters of noise may be better addressed via the RMA.



Current version

22. Vessels to be adequately secured

(1) The person in charge of a vessel shall ensure that it is properly and effectively secured when at any landing place or at any swing mooring or at anchor.

(2) No person shall secure a vessel to any post, wharf, ring, fender, buoy or any other structure not intended for that purpose.

(3) No person shall abandon any vessel or property in an area where it may re-float and create a navigation hazard or where it may interfere with the normal use of the waters by other persons.

(4) No person shall leave any vessel unattended:

(a) at any landing place without permission of the permit owner; or

(b) on the beach or foreshore unless secured in an area specified for this purpose by the Harbourmaster.

(5) Subject to the requirements of subclause (3), subclause (4)(b) shall not apply to small vessels that are left on any beach or foreshore for a period of 48 hours or less.

Explanatory note: For the purposes of subclauses (4) and (5) “foreshore” has the same meaning as in the Resource Management Act 1991, and therefore means “any land covered and uncovered by the flow and ebb of the tide at mean spring tides and, in relation to any such land that forms part of the bed of a river, does not include any area that is not part of the coastal marine area”. Subclauses (4) and (5) do not apply to vessels left landward of the foreshore.

Explanatory notes: For the purpose of subclause (5), “small vessel” includes the likes of kayaks, dingies and runabouts that would in the ordinary course of their active use be at times temporarily hauled up on to the beach or foreshore.

(6) No person shall, without the permission of the Harbourmaster, cut, break, or destroy:

(a) the mooring of any vessel; or

(b) the fastening securing any vessel lying in a dock or at or near a wharf or landing place.

Proposed change

22. Vessels to be adequately secured

(1) The person in charge of a vessel shall ensure that it is properly and effectively secured when at any landing place or at any swing mooring or at anchor.

(2) No person shall secure a vessel to any post, wharf, ring, fender, buoy or any other structure not intended for that purpose.

(3) No person shall abandon or secure any vessel or property in an area where it may re-float and create a navigation hazard or where it may interfere with the normal use of the waters by other persons.

(4) No person shall leave any vessel unattended:

(a) at any landing place without permission of the permit owner; or

(b) on the beach or foreshore unless secured in an area specified for this purpose by the Harbourmaster.

(5) Subject to the requirements of subclause (3), subclause (4)(b) shall not apply to small vessels that are left on any beach or foreshore for a period of 48 hours or less.

Explanatory note: For the purposes of subclauses (4) and (5) “foreshore” has the same meaning as in the Resource Management Act 1991, and therefore means “any land covered and uncovered by the flow and ebb of the tide at mean spring tides and, in relation to any such land that forms part of the bed of a river, does not include any area that is not part of the coastal marine area”. Subclauses (4) and (5) do not apply to vessels left landward of the foreshore.

Explanatory notes: For the purpose of subclause (5), “small vessel” includes the likes of kayaks, dingies and runabouts that would in the ordinary course of their active use be at times temporarily hauled up on to the beach or foreshore.

(6) (4) No person shall, without the permission of the Harbourmaster, cut, break, or destroy:

(a) the mooring of any vessel; or

(b) the fastening securing any vessel lying in a dock or at or near a wharf or landing place.

Rationale for change

Clauses (4) and (5) have been shifted to clause 24 as the intent of these rules is more about placing a limitation on the placement of vessels than how they are to be secured.


Current version

24. Limitation on anchoring or mooring

(1) No vessel shall remain anchored or moored within the same or proximate location for longer than 14 consecutive days without the prior approval of the Harbourmaster.

(2) If so directed by the Harbourmaster the person in charge or owner of a vessel shall:

(a) not leave that vessel unattended; and

(b) crew that vessel according to the Harbourmaster’s directions.

Proposed version

24. Limitation on anchoring or mooring

(1) No vessel shall remain anchored or moored within the same or proximate location for longer than 14 consecutive days without the prior approval of the Harbourmaster.

(1) No person shall leave any vessel unattended:

(a) at any landing place without permission of the permit owner; or

(b) on the beach or foreshore unless secured in an area specified for this purpose by the Harbourmaster.

(2) Subject to the requirements of subclause 22(3), subclause (2)(b) shall not apply to small vessels that are left on any beach or foreshore for a period of 48 hours or less.

Explanatory note: For the purposes of subclauses (2) and (3), “beach or foreshore” refers, in relation to the sea, to the area below MHWS (average highest spring tide) or a reasonably foreseeable storm event; and, in relation to any inland waterway (such as a river, stream, or lake the area within the range of a reasonably foreseeable rise of river or lake level such as through fresh, flood, storm-driven waves or surge, or raising of controlled lake level (as may occur with hydro-lakes). These subclauses do not apply to vessels left above these limits.

(3) If so directed by the Harbourmaster the person in charge or owner of a vessel shall:

(a) not leave that vessel unattended; and

(b) crew that vessel according to the Harbourmaster’s directions.

Explanatory notes: For the purpose of subclause (3), “small vessel” includes the likes of kayaks, dinghies and runabouts that would in the ordinary course of their active use be at times temporarily hauled up on to the beach or foreshore.

Rationale for change

Delete clause 24(1) as Regional Coastal Plan rule has the same thing, albeit for a different reason, so that can be enforced against instead. Any vessel may still be directed to be removed should it pose a safety issue, regardless of any time period of it's being in a place, further rendering this subclause unnecessary.

Clause 22(4) and 22(5) are proposed to become clause 24(1) and 24(2) because the intent of these rules is more a limitation on the placement of vessels than how they are to be secured.

The change of the explanatory note is to create greater consistency with maritime terms and to clarify the intent of application is that "beach or foreshore" is any land adjacent to water where that land may be subject to changing water levels.

<span class="translation_missing" title="translation missing: en.projects.blog_posts.show.load_comment_text">Load Comment Text</span>