A paddleboat operator offering to take fare paying passengers up the Wairoa River is finding himself hard aground on a local rule that views the river as dry land.

Peter Koole's paddleboat Otanui is at the Waimarino Adventure Park ready to take passengers for rides up and down the river.

Peter Koole's paddleboat Otanui is at the Waimarino Adventure Park - but is not allowed to operate due to council consent.

But while Peter and Otanui are ready to operate, bureaucrats from three councils are now involved.

As the paddleboat and operator fulfil Maritime NZ requirements for navigational safety, the regional council has stepped back, but the city council and district council are now involved.

Western BOP District Council district plan requires the river, the surface of the water to be zoned as if it were rural land, says compliance officer Chris Watt.

'We categorise him as a place of assembly so even while he is on the water on our half of the river, he's a place of assembly. So that's where we are in the resource consent process.

'It's complicated by the fact it straddles the jurisdictional boundary.”

On the Tauranga City Council side of the river council officers are looking at parking, hours of operation and the pick-up and drop off points.

Council staff are working through the provisions and looking at setting up another meeting with him next week.

At this stage the primary base is believed to be at the Waimarino Adventure Park, but operator Peter Koole has also expressed an interest in being able to pick up passengers from the district council territory on the western side of the river.

'One of the ideas he has is he would possibly stage by the Wairoa and the bridge there, where there's a coffee cart and things like that,” says Chris.

'If there are going to be parking issues there, the NZTA become involved. It's council reserve land, there are car parking issues, safety, hours. I'm not saying its onerous by any means.

'We look at the hours, the impact on land, frequency of trips. It's more about completing that process. You can have places of assembly that are very complex, very high energy, but this is at the simpler end of the spectrum. So where he sites on that we are not too sure.

'So that's where we are at. I think it's been a bit frustrating for him.

'In retrospect it probably would have been easier if he had come to us first. But we would rather enable him to get that activity off the ground than frustrate him. Our job's not to frustrate the process but to try and find a way forward.”

Tauranga City Council is also claiming the operation needs resource consent, a claim disputed by BOP Regional Council marine manager Reuben Fraser.

Waimarino Adventure Park director Blair Anderson says it appears the city is not pleased about bringing another business to the region.

'It appears that they are forgetting the City Vision statements. There was never a hassle when we ran another boat operation for almost two years on the river.

'There have never been any issues raised when a waka or stand up paddleboard business operates on the river, let alone the multitude of boating operations operating in the Tauranga Harbour without resource consent.

'Let's get behind this innovative and courageous person and break down the barriers to build an enterprise to fit our hills harbour and coast, that is an easy and safe way to move around, that helps create a strong sustainable economy in tourism with actively involved people; let us assist not hinder.