Kiwi Water Park on Lake Dunstan may not be able to open this summer. Photo: Kiwi Water Park
A Central Otago inflatable water park may not be able to open this summer due to a clash over road safety.
Kiwi Water Park has attracted tens of thousands of visitors over the last two summers to Lake Dunstan at Lowburn, near Cromwell.
But owner Emily Rutherford said it was unclear if they would have a licence to operate this summer.
Waka Kotahi was concerned about traffic safety in the area.
Central Otago District Council (CODC) provided a multi-year consent in 2020, though the water park's operation was contingent on receiving a licence from Land Information New Zealand - which owned the land - only a yearly basis.
Land Information New Zealand would not provide a licence until the safety concerns were resolved, Rutherford said.
"We have been waiting for six months for a decision over whether we need to install a right turn bay into our park, or if the speed limit should be lowered instead, to legally operate - but no one will give us an answer.
"In the meantime, our business planning and recruitment of staff for this season hangs in the balance - we've got two months until we open and we need action urgently," she said.
About $500,000 had been invested into the business and the idea of not being able to open this summer was concerning, she said.
But she believed there was a simple solution to the impasse.
"There's no way that anything will be able to be done before we open now because there's such massive wait times to be able to get new infrastructure done. So we are backed into a corner where the only options are the status quo or lowering the speed limit," Rutherford said.
"It's just a very easy solution, lower the speed limit - done."
Waka Kotahi said it was not consulted during the initial consent process and during the first season of the park's operation a serious crash occurred at the access to the carpark used by Kiwi Water Park.
"At the end of the first season the water park proposed a new location for the activity within the wider site and sought a revised consent through [Central Otago District] Council. Through this process, conditions were added to the consent requiring improved access signage, fencing and monitoring/reporting on the use of the access at the end of the season to determine if any upgrade was required. A traffic counter was installed at the accessway for the 21/22 season and the operator's traffic consultant completed an assessment report following the completion of the summer season," the transport agency said.
"The assessment report concluded that based on the volume of traffic accessing the site, a right turn bay was required to ensure safe and efficient access from the state highway. The conditions on the consent required the right turn bay to be installed by November 2022 in advance of the 2022/23 season.
"All of the parties (Kiwi Water Park, CODC, LINZ and Waka Kotahi) met in June this year to discuss the conclusions of the traffic assessment."
Waka Kotahi said all parties agreed with the assessment's conclusions, but there was disagreement about who should pay for the necessary access upgrade.
"If no agreement is reached on the access upgrade requirement process the consent conditions stipulate that the final decision sits with CODC as the consent authority," Waka Kotahi said.
Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand head of Crown property Sonya Wikitera said they were considering the application from Kiwi Water Park for a recreation permit.
"We previously granted recreation permits allowing the water park to operate over the 2020/21 and 2021/22 summer seasons," she said.
"However, traffic safety concerns have slowed down processing the water park's permit application for the 2022/23 season. The safety of all visitors, including freedom campers to this popular recreation area is our top priority. We are working closely with Waka Kotahi and the Central Otago District Council to assess whether risk mitigation measures may allow the water park to open again this year.
"We are doing our best to have an answer for the business owner as quickly as possible."
LINZ would not comment on whether it supported the lowering of the speed limit in the area.