The Houhora Big Game and Sport Fishing Club, and its disputed boat ramp. Photo: RNZ / Lois Williams
Boaties in the Far North have won their fight for free access to a popular boat ramp.
The Houhora Big Game and Sport Fishing Club started building a barrier arm across its ramp at Monkey Point, to raise funds and restrict the number of cars parking near the beach.
It wanted to sell swipe cards to people wanting to launch their boats at Monkey Point.
It said it cost a lot to maintain its facilities, including the ramp and jetty.
At a meeting last night, local councils told the club it could not do that, despite a new resource consent not expressly forbidding it.
A former club member, Karl Denison, said it was a victory for the beach-going public.
For the club it was about money, but for the community it was about access now and in the future.
A condition of the original resource consent allowed the club to build on reserve land for a peppercorn lease, Mr Denison said.
It was accepted the club needed money, but it would have to find another way to raise it, he said.
