The return of jet boats on the Kaituna River after a 14-month absence has infuriated residents who claim the river banks are only just beginning to recover from the damage done by the boats.

Members of the local community have also accused Bay of Plenty Regional Council of duplicity, and have challenged the legal status of the new operator.

A replacement for the Kaituna Jet wants to run on the river. Photo: File.

Resident Don McGowan says NZ River Jets cannot simply use the speed limit consent granted to the previous operator, the Kaituna River Jet.

He says allowing high-speed jet boats on the river also flies in the face of recommendations in a NIWA report the council itself commissioned, to explore the damage created by such crafts.

Don has made a Local Government Official Information Act request for a copy of the consent, because he says the company has to have a speed limit exemption to operate.

Under the regional council's own navigation and safety bylaw, all vessels operating within 200m of the shore cannot travel at a speed greater than five knots – comparable to a fast walk.

'It is a five knot river,” says Don, 'so they have to have a speed exemption to operate here,” says Don.

The original jet boating consent was issued by district council's forerunner – Tauranga District Council – in 1986, and was made out to Longridge Farms.

'I have always argued it doesn't give consent for a jet boat,” says Don. 'The application Longridge made was for a jet boat operation, but the consent that was given never mentioned a jet boat.

'It talked about a tourist venture, a turnaround area plus parking, but there was no mention of the jet boat.”

The consent was originally issued to Longridge Farms which then morphed into Bumps and Spill before becoming Kaituna River Jet – all of which operated from the Steel farm and used the same boat ramp.

'Now a completely new company comes down from Taupo called New Zealand River Jet and thinks they are going to operate on that licence,” says Don.

'I can't pump water on your consent, I can't buy a firearm on your fire arms licence, I can't drive a car on your driver's licence, and neither should they be able to operate on someone else's licence.”

The original consent has no expiry date and no provisions for auditing the effects or any ability to review its operation or modify it. It was issued to Stuart Steel at Longridge.

'I'm not arguing that he (Stuart) can't let them use his ramp to launch their boat. But I don't think Stuart Steel can give that consent to anybody else to operate under.”

'If NZ River Jet want to operate here they should go and apply to the regional council for a speed uplifting.

'And if they have a temporary speed uplifting I want to see a copy of it. I haven't seen that yet.”

He is also seeking an explanation for how the regional council can ignore NIWA's recommendation that council stop high-speed craft operating on the Kaituna River.

The NIWA report was released in February 2012, and its recommendations are unequivocal; remove stock access, and don't renew the licence and or consent for jet boating.

It didn't happen. And when residents raised the issue at the hearing in 2013, councillors Paula Thompson, Jane Nees and independent chair Rob van Voorthuysen flatly refused to discuss the environmental argument, saying the hearing was under the auspices of the Navigation and Safety bylaw.

It's a stance regional council is continuing with.

A statement from the authority says: 'Bay of Plenty Regional Council is not a consenting authority in this instance.

'We are, however, responsible for administration of the Bay of Plenty Regional Navigation Safety Bylaw and the enforcement of provisions (such as speed restrictions) in it.

'Longridge Farms hold an historic consent (administered by Western Bay of Plenty District Council) to operate a tourist complex, including jet boat tours of the Kaituna River.

'Longridge Farms can allow others to operate under that consent, which has no expiry date.”

Regional council approved the speed increase in May 2014, with conditions that included a requirement for it to slow down to five knots at 50 metres either side of the Maungarangi Road bridge where people swim, and on the first Sunday of each month to allow others to use the river without the jet boat operating.

In the 14 months since Kaituna River Jet ceased operating, the McGowans have seen the river begin to recover from the damage done by regular jet boat wakes. Vegetation returned to the water's edge, banks stopped slumping into the river, wildlife returned and the water cleared.

The argument over who has power over the environment is ongoing, says Don.

The regional council was created in 1989 to take over the regional environmental responsibilities, says Don.