‘‘I have no intention of wearing a life jacket and I have no intention of paying a $300 fine,'' she told the Otago Daily Times on Christmas Eve while paddleboarding on Lake Hawea.
Paddleboarders within 200m of the shore were once exempt from the council bylaw requiring life jackets to be worn by all those in vessels of less than 6m.
However, the exemption expired on October 1, 2014, and was not reinstated during a review of the council's navigation safety bylaw, adopted in December 2014.
Ms Battson, who took up paddleboarding two years ago, said she had only just become aware life jackets must be worn.
She was not impressed.‘‘I'm just livid, because they have changed the bylaw.‘‘It's appalling.''Ms Battson was a member of the council's 2011 hearing panel that agreed to the life jacket exemption, after hearing submissions from paddleboarders.
Council records show the paddleboarding issue was not raised in public submissions during the subsequent 2014 review.
Ms Battson believed that was because paddleboarders were not made aware of the review.
‘‘That's how they get away with changing bylaws.''
Ms Battson considered paddleboarders who stayed within 200m of the shore were safe without a life jacket, provided they wore a leg rope - the paddleboard itself acting as a safe flotation device.
Ms Battson fully supported children and those venturing beyond 200m from the shore being required to wear life jackets.
Paddleboarders found life jackets hot and ‘‘quite cumbersome and uncomfortable'', she said.
‘‘And when you go on a paddleboard, you go on calm water, so if you did fall in ... you just immediately get back on your paddleboard.
‘‘It's not difficult to get on them.''
Council harbourmaster Marty Black said he had issued a paddleboarder with an infringement notice for not wearing a life jacket last Wednesday - the first of the summer.
However, he noticed paddleboarders were getting the message about life jackets.
‘‘Not wearing a life jacket is just bloody stupid.
‘‘You need to wear a life jacket because if you fall and hit your head you are going to fall face down.
‘‘A good life jacket should turn you.
‘‘So, end of story.''
