Traffic on this stretch of river has increased at least 10-fold in the last 10 years, says a report presented to the City Council last month (at www.ccc.govt.nz/Council/Proceedings/2004/18March/Appendix2.pdf on the web).

“Year-round rowing, many additional kayaks, the arrival of dragon boats and outriggers and the increasing popularity of all flat water recreation including rowing now render Kerrs Reach incapable of delivering a safe environment for the current volume of flat-water recreation,” it says.

Planning for a new facility has been in train for three years, with the focus on a proposal brought to the Council by the Lake Isaac Water sports Park Trust for a new 2500m watercourse on land north-west of Christchurch International Airport.

During last year’s Council planning round, the trust sought around $11 million from the Council to support the project. Under that proposal, Diana Lady Isaac had agreed to make available 169ha of land for the water sports park.

The Council had already granted $600,000 to the trust over five years, of which approximately $100,000 has been paid to the trust to help it prepare a resource consent application.

After considering public submissions, the Council last year decided it would support t investigation. But before committing to extra funding, it requested that more work be done to make sure the scheme would not contribute to an increased risk of bird strike on aircraft using the airport.

The current draft community plan now out for public consultation continues this line. Without specifically ruling out the Lake Isaac proposal, it proposes looking at other possible sites for such a facility and has earmarked $630,000 in the coming year to develop a facility if a suitable site could be found.

The Council has also included indicative future funds to help build such a facility, but before those funds are committed, the Council would want to be satisfied that a suitable site is available and that environmental and resource management issues can be resolved.

Based on the original Lake Isaac idea, it is estimated it would cost around $30.4m to produce a venue capable of handling the recreational, training and competitive demands up to international standard.

A first stage, worth about $15.5m, would provide a training and competition course, with later work providing a course that could host national and international events.

A combination of funding sources, including the Council, central government, community agencies, corporates, and private individuals would be need to complete the project.