Summary of Comments Made at Consultation on the Report of the Land Access Ministerial Reference Group, Walking Access in the New Zealand Outdoors
Introduction
This document is a summary of comments made by people participating in consultation (participants) on the report of the Land Access Ministerial Reference Group (the Group), Walking Access in the New Zealand Outdoors (the report). More than 50 meetings were held around New Zealand following the release of the report and notes were taken at each meeting.
Generally participants acknowledge and commend the work of the Group and the report. Participants state that they are keen to follow the next steps in the process and to contribute in a constructive way. Participants have expressed their appreciation at the full and lengthy consultation process and the effort made to have meetings in each region in the country.
Participants generally refer to the report as positive, well timed, readable and rational. The report is seen to provide an opportunity to approach the topic of walking access with a `clean slate', setting a precedent for decades to come. Participants note that it is in the interest of everyone to work together and find solutions beneficial to all New Zealanders. Participants are interested to know the time frame of where New Zealand is heading to in terms of access.
A small number of participants note that this investigation into walking access has `opened a can of worms'. Participants from some regions are unaware of local access problems. Other participants are concerned that what is required now for access may not be what is required in the future. In general, participants felt that it was important that there is fair and frank consultation with user groups and landowners to come to a general consensus and that agreed solutions must have strong local involvement.
Some Maori participants indicate that they appreciate the opportunity for dialogue and see the opportunity for further discussion on walking access. This is considered to be an important topic for Maori and it would be useful to involve them at iwi and hapu level to ensure wide and thorough consultation.
This document follows the structure of the report and uses the same headings when participants have made comments on the topics. If no comments have been made, the headings have not been included. The comments made in the document are by participants only and do not reflect the opinions or conclusions of representatives of the report in attendance at the meetings, nor do representatives assert that these comments are factually correct.
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