In 2010 Operators agreed on 8 industry safety principles that underpin safety in the Adventure activity sector. These principles continue to provide the foundation for our advocacy position for the sector:

Recreating in and on New Zealand’s freshwater rivers and lakes is a highly popular activity. Swimming is the second most popular form of Activity for New Zealanders with 30.2% of the population. Fishing is the 5th most popular form of Active Recreation for New Zealanders, with 19.5% of the population participating in that activity at least once every 12 months. Canoeing/kayaking has participation levels in a similar realm to Football, Tennis, Netball or Cricket;

In 2011 DoC opened up the winter months from May-September to mountain bikers on the Heaphy Track, as a trial. Investment was poured into upgrading the track, building new bridges and the new Perry Saddle, James Mackay and Heaphy huts. Overall users went up from around 5,000 a year to almost 7,000, of which around 1,700 were most likely mountain bikers.

Given its significant contribution to society in terms of our economy and our general quality of life, recreation should be given greater prominence in the planning process as set by the Resource Management Act.

Recreation is currently only considered as a subset of the term ‘amenity values’ in Part 2, Section 7 of the current Act. and only referred to in the Interpretation as an ‘attribute’. There is a lack of clarity around the value and place of recreation in the current Act. This has been known to cause delays in the planning process, and meant input from the recreation sector into significant consent applications is often a late or completely absent.