Walking Rights to Rivers and Lakes: Government Response
The government is to legislate to increase public access along rivers and lakes and beaches, but farmers will not be forced to let the public cross their land to reach the waterways. The public will get to use five-metre-wide walking strips along designated river banks, lakes and coastline with "access value", but the access will be restricted to people on foot. Any access across private land to the new waterside strips must be negotiated with landowners by a new agency, and owners will not be forced to agree. The policy will not take effect for about four years.
Work on this issue began nearly two years ago when former meat board chairman John Acland was appointed to lead a reference group to look at problems with public access to the outdoors across private land after growing concerns that rights were misunderstood or being eroded. The work was designed to head off disputes with private landowners, and was partly in response to confusion over the Queen's Chain and a growing trend for landowners to restrict public access to rivers, beaches and mountains through their land. The group reported 16 months ago and provoked more than 1000 submissions.
Land Access Questions and Answers
Note: These Q&As are verbatim copies of what the government released on 22 December.
What is the government doing? The government is to provide a footway of five metres along waterways and water bodies of significant access value in rural areas where access is not already provided.
Why is the government doing this? There is increasing confusion about access along waterways: there are examples where people think they have access but don't, and where there is legal access which is blocked. This policy aims to clarify where people can go and under what circumstances.
Does this mean people can go anywhere? No. The "right to roam" found little support in consultation and is not supported by government.
Isn't this just a big landgrab? No, this is about access, not ownership. There are no changes to the title because of the walking access proposal.
Doesn't the Queen's Chain cover all this? No, the Queen's Chain is fragmented and covers only between 50 percent to 70 percent of land along waterways. There are significant gaps.
So this policy is about extending the Queen's Chain? No. While the government embraces the Queen's Chain ethos, this policy focuses on walking access. It's not appropriate to extend the Queen's Chain because that would include access for other things - such as vehicles, guns, and dogs - that are not part of this policy.
Isn't this a major infringement on private property rights? Not at all. The access is for walking only, where there are areas with high "access values" such as ecological, recreational or historical significance along a five metre strip. There will be extensive consultation to decide what areas have access value, and there will also be a range of exclusions for access where they are justified.
How will the safety of farmers and families be protected given that some houses are close to rivers, streams etc? The policy provides that walking right will be no closer than 50 metres to a residence or 20 metres from any other lawfully erected building on private land.
Will people be able to walk across private land to reach the footway? There will be no automatic right to cross private land. The government will help create negotiated solutions to access, including through setting up a fund to create and improve access opportunities across private land to footways.
How will people reach the footway then? In almost all cases there will be existing public access that will reach the footway at some point along the watercourse. The government is also working to facilitate negotiated solutions to access across private land.
Aren't I liable for any injuries people get on my land? No. Under the Health and Safety in Employment Amendment Act 1998, you are not responsible for injuries people might incur while on your land if you do not know they are there. If you do know they are going on your land, you are only obliged to warn them of extraordinary risks: for example, if trees were being harvested, you would need to warn people of that and the risk of logging trucks. You do not need to warn them of natural hazards, such as tomos or bluffs.
What about waterways in urban areas? All policy proposals relate to rural land only. There are two reasons for that: the amount of curtilage (the land immediately surrounding and enclosed with a residence) in urban areas would stop access to almost all waterways, and secondly, access in urban areas is generally well-provided for - e.g., public roads and parks - and understood.
Does this policy apply to Maori land? Yes. The policy applies to land of all tenures. Maori land would be subject to linked and parallel statutory and judicial processes arising from the Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993.
What happens if I want to take my dog or gun or four-wheel drive vehicle there? You must ask the landowner for permission first. The policy is only for walking access. It is not for people with guns, people with dogs, people with vehicles, or people with motorbikes or mountainbikes.
Will compensation be paid for the public having access? This is unlikely. However, under the work programme, there is to be an investigation of whether compensation should be payable.
When will the policy come into force? There will be a long lead in time to allow for the further policy work, the passing of legislation and the consultation that needs to take place over issues such as access values. If the legislation enabling the policy passed into law in 2006, the policy would probably be fully in force by 2009, although identification of existing access could be completed much sooner.
When will the legislation be introduced? It is hoped that legislation will be introduced into Parliament by the middle of next year.
What is going to happen to unformed legal roads? The consultation process attracted considerable comment and debate about the value of, and need to protect, the extensive network of unformed public roads because they are a valuable tool for extending public access to the countryside. These roads provide the most legally secure form of access as they also allow access to vehicles, horses, etc. Nevertheless, their location is often difficult to determine. Under the work programme, there is to be a closer examination of how unformed legal roads can be better used to enhance public access to the countryside. The role of local authorities in managing and protecting this valuable network of access ways will be considered.
What information is available? Documents relating to this project are available on the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry website: www.maf.govt.nz/mafnet/rural-nz/people-and-their-issues/access/
This includes press releases, summaries of meetings and submission analysis from the consultation process, as well as the reports, Walking Access in the New Zealand Outdoors, and The Law on Public Access Along Water Margins.
How can you participate? There will be further opportunities to participate through the consultation processes described above, and when legislation is put forward, through the Select Committee process. However, if there are other matters you wish to raise, you can write to Jim Sutton, Parliament Buildings, Wellington.
Contact for Enquiries
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Pastoral House
25 The Terrace
PO Box 2526, Wellington
Tel: +64 4 894 0100
Fax: +64 4 894 0720
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