New Plymouth Stakeholder Meeting 21 October 2003
Grand Central Hotel, 42 Powderham Street
2pm to 4pm
15 Attended (DOC, Federated Farmers, Alpine Club, Fish and Game, Taranaki Regional Council, Taranaki District Council)
Commentary
· Has the Crown or other agencies got the ability to compulsorily buy access?
- Ability to negotiate walkways through the Conservation Board.
- Is there a change to deem access with no compensation?
- The effects of access depend on where and what the land is, i.e. at Whitecliffs, the demand is huge.
- Extensive promotion creates demand.
- Need to manage the effects of access.
· Huge demand can damage resources.
· Need security of property right.
· Right to have return on investment.
· Numbers of those accessing the land are doubling every year.
· Access is enabling resources to be stripped.
· What if you give access then need a resource consent?
· Trespass has to be dealt with there and then, the police are not interested.
· Personal safety is the biggest risk.
· Has an office in the house to manage public demand, have built accommodation to get a return.
- Charge for maintained access tracks.
- But there are people who think that they should have a right.
· Public perceptions are changing, foreigners are buying up the land.
· People think that they have the right to vehicle access.
· Match up what the public and landowners want, but no right to roam.
· Should be optimistic about where the report is heading.
· Negotiate access with the main body of recreational users.
· Could use Fish and Game for example to manage the land, police it.
· Cost recovery - only option is back to individuals who use it.
· Take this case by case.
· There are amicable relationships in Taranaki.
- Echoes the tradition in New Zealand of an open society.
- Laissez faire between rural/non rural population.
- Fish are privately owned in Austria.
- Encounters between landowners and recreational fishers are increasing.
- Accelerating erosion.
- Stony River - new owner, who will grant access if you drop off beer.
- Get rid of the access loophole.
- People have been going to places for years but are now being told that the landowner has made an arrangement with a local guide.
· The Queen's Chain is a `bit of an eye opener'.
- Has read the report from cover to cover.
- Opposed to the capture of public resources for private use.
- Not advocate the right to roam but access along waterways and to waterways.
- Anglers are inconspicuous.
- They do not damage property or stock.
· Make access more certain.
· Negotiate access across private land.
· This is a commercial age - have to pay to get to town, so it should be reciprocal.
· Who should pay for the upkeep of bush on land?
· The subdivision trigger of the RMA is not consistent, you can end up with little pieces done as a strip - be consistent, take it case by case.
· Under the LGA you can put gates on paper roads, but they cannot be locked.
· There is not a lot of access along Taranaki waterways, and it is sometimes hard to define.
· Where is the funding for all of this?
· The concept of providing coastal land is important, but it needs to be run by a local agency.
· Need an integrated look at the issues.
· This is a bit of a mess.
· Do not know where strips are, what is on them.
· Did you get input from the farming community when you put together the report?
· What do landowners generally say that they will accept?
· Do not want OSH responsibilities.
· Maori land is small and the farming options are limited, so have to look outside the square.
· Reference to Huka Lodge.
· Importance of education, no one knows what to do, where to go when tramping on land.
· Unformed roads are a territorial local authority responsibility.
- South Taranaki District Council has had a database of the paper roads in their district.
- Difficult landscape to work out what happens.
· Who is responsible for identifying paper roads?
· Need codes of conduct - random trampers do not necessarily obey this, bring dogs etc.
· Want all New Zealanders to have access, including kids - maintain it for the future.
· It is the responsibility of clubs to specify what access they want, on a case by case basis.
· Thank you for the free participation in submissions.
Contact for Enquiries
Rural Affairs Coordinator
Sector Performance Policy
MAF Policy
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
PO Box 2526
Wellington
NEW ZEALAND
Phone: +64 4 894 0675
Fax: +64 4 4 894 0745
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