New Zealand Four Wheel Drive Association Inc.

At the July 2008 Auckland Conservation Board  meeting, Forest & Bird presented an argument to have DOC support for a total ban on vehicles on Muriwai Beach and all other NZ beaches. The following are from the Conservation Board records.

3.2       Kaipara Forest and Bird -Vehicles OFF Beaches Campaign: Outline

The Forest & Bird campaign to raise awareness of the need to ban vehicles from beaches started out as a local Kaipara campaign, and grew into a national movement.  Communities throughout New Zealand have supported their stand to protect beaches and sand dunes and the wildlife that shelter there, and have asked for help to get a ban on vehicles from beaches in their areas.

Kaipara Forest & Bird strongly believe that a total ban on vehicles on the 60km stretch of iconic west coast beach from Muriwai Beach to Papakanui Spit is the only way to protect the beach and dune environment, protect wildlife, and ensure public safety. The dune areas along this coast and at Papakanui Spit are a dynamic ecosystem that were once common on the west coast, but are now nationally rare.  This area, according to the Department of Conservation’s Conservation Management Strategy (CMS 2005) for South Head, “represents the best remaining dune assemblage in the Auckland region, and one of the best remaining in New Zealand”.  Muriwai–Te Oneone -Rangatira Beach is also of spiritual significance to Maori as it forms part of the pathway followed by the spirits of the dead on their journey to Cape Reinga.

Suzi Phillips said it was interesting to note in the Department of Conservation’s last Auckland Conservation management strategy that Conservation Park status was proposed for the South Head/Papakanui Spit area, and the report called for increased support for the heritage values there.

The CMS also noted conflicts between activities such as the use of off-road vehicles in the area and protection of the natural dune formations, vegetation and wildlife values.The difficulty of enforcing controls on vehicles entering the wildlife refuge area at the top of the spit, from the beach was also noted. Kaipara Forest & Bird are very concerned that at present, vehicles progressing up Te One One - Rangatira Beach can continue unhindered into the Conservation estate and wildlife refuge at Papakanui Spit, threatening the breeding and roosting areas of rare and threatened native and endemic birds, as well as nationally and internationally significant populations of migratory waders and other wildlife.

The reasons why a ban on vehicles is necessary were summarised:

• because any vehicle damage to the dunes and beach environment is unacceptable and irreparable.  Or to put it another way, no damage is sustainable.
• because any vehicle disturbance of feeding, roosting and nesting coastal birds is unacceptable.
• to preserve the wilderness and coastal heritage values of areas like Muriwai/Te Oneone/ Rangatira Beach and Papakanui Spit and to ensure the safety of people who are enjoying these values by removing the intrusion and accompanying risks of vehicle passage, and of noise from this experience.
• to prevent vehicle damage to beach foreshore and sand dune environments, particularly the damage done from vehicle tracks that destroys dune vegetation, break down the dune system and cause increased coastal erosion along this foreshore area.
• so that access roads can be blocked before the foreshore and dunes, and carparks established to encourage people to walk to the sea for recreational pursuits such as fishing, camping, beach-combing, and bird-watching, resulting in better outcomes for public health as well as the environment. 
• to stop intrusion into conservation estate land, on coastal strips such as on the west coast beaches and at the top of South Head. 

Earlier that week, Kaipara Forest & Bird were invited by the Rodney District Council’s strategy and planning department to comment on their proposals for setting speed limits on Muriwai-Te Oneone Beach – 60km of iconic west coast beach and sand dune systems from Muriwai to Papakanui Spit. Before responding to the proposed speed limits, Kaipara F&B commented on matters of law affecting access on the beach, as these affect the setting of these speed limit bylaws. 

They agreed with RDC that conflict is occurring between user groups causing safety concerns … and that “thoughtless use of off-road vehicles was causing damage to the sensitive beach environment and dune ecology” there, however they took issue with the RDC’s statement that …”the right of all types of vehicles to use the beach should be recognized …” as Kaipara F&B sought a legal opinion from a respected environmental lawyer, and he concluded that ;

“Neither section 7 of the Foreshore and Seabed Act nor the Land Transport Act provides a policy justification for allowing continued use of public beaches by vehicles.  The Council has complete discretion to regulate that activity on beaches, including to ban their use.”

And further that, “provided the justification for the ban was relevant and reasonable, there is no difficulty in passing the Bylaw seeking a ban.  Such a ban would stand up to challenge.”

He also said that “The Land Transport Act does not grant a right of public access to a beach by vehicle.  The ONLY area where the LTA applies is between MHWS and MLWS.  This is not a right of access, but is for the purposes of enabling Police to enforce traffic law.”

Rodney District Council already has a bylaw enacted that can be used to ban vehicles from the beach.  This is contained in the RDC Bylaws, Chapter 14, 5.1 (d) that states the public cannot, “take any vehicle on to a beach except by the most direct route to launch or recover a boat.”  Kaipara Forest & Bird have suggested that the Council enforce this bylaw on Muriwai Beach along with appropriate signs and promotion, arguing that there is no right of access to the beach and so regulating speed is the wrong approach. They considered that it would also not be possible for the Police to adequately enforce these speed restriction bylaws, as that would require a Police presence that is beyond the capability of the Police to provide. 

Suzi Phillips outlined the justification for a ban is in the need to protect public safety, pedestrian enjoyment of the beach, and the dune ecosystem and wildlife.  There is also justification for a ban in terms of there being no effective way of preventing vehicles leaving the (what is considered by some to be), legal public access (ie the area below Mean High Water Springs), and traversing the back-beach, causing damage to the dune ecosystem and disturbance to wildlife.  The only way to effectively achieve the above is to ban vehicles from the beach. They pointed out that the significant speed difference between a pedestrian at walking speed and a vehicle travelling at 60km/hr is too great without the protection of defined footpath and roadway, and suggested that a speed limit closer to 10kph offers better pedestrian safety, subject to the police being there to enforce it.

It was noted that there is a recent legal precedent for a responsibility on authorities to be aware of the downstream effects of their decisions on the safety of the public. It can now be argued in court that a decision to allow motor vehicle use on the beach, subject to a speed restriction that cannot be adequately enforced, is not showing sufficient care for public safety. The Rodney District Council’s draft speed restriction proposal included two areas of beach that should ban vehicles.  These were at the southern high public use end of Muriwai Beach and at the northern end, extending from the boundary of the Defence Force land and including Papakanui Spit and the wildlife refuge.

While Kaipara Forest & Bird felt that this proposal is a significant improvement, they consider it is not sufficient to protect the public’s right to safely enjoy the rest of the beach, or to adequately protect the sand dune ecosystems that stretch between the two areas, nor the coastal birdlife, or their critical nesting areas. Suzi Phillips said that although the Department appears not to have the resources to actively enforce a ban on vehicles in Conservation land such as the Papakanui Spit Wildlife Refuge, it can help the situation by supporting the call for a ban and in doing so, sharing in the favourable result such a ban would have for conservation lands and associated ecosystems.

Kaipara Forest & Bird have asked Rodney District Council to extend this ban to include the entire extent of Muriwai / Te Oneone / Rangatira Beach, and hope that the Department of Conservation and the Auckland Conservation Board will also want to protect these sand dune ecosystems and associated wildlife, by supporting a call for a ban on vehicles on these beaches.

AUCKLAND CONSERVATION BOARD

Te Runanga Papa Atawhai o Tamaki Makaurau

Board File Ref:

28 July 2008

The Chief Executive Officer
Rodney District Council
Private Bag 500
Orewa 0946

Dear Sir

Use of Motor Vehicles on Beaches

I am writing to you in my capacity as Chairperson of the Auckland Conservation Board (ACB). The ACB is a statutory board appointed by the Minister of Conservation under the provisions of the Conservation Act 1987.  The Act, amongst other things promotes and encourages the conservation of New Zealand’s natural and historical resources.

The ACB provides advice to the Department of Conservation on conservation matters in the Auckland region and to the Minister regarding policies and programmes of the Department, and also advocates for conservation more generally.  Part of this latter process includes regular consultation with a wide number of community groups having a particular interest in conservation and related recreational and historical matters.

At our most recent meeting the Board was approached by representatives of groups concerned with the effects of motor vehicles on the ecological, conservation and recreational values of some beaches in the Auckland region – particularly Muriwai/Te Oneone/Rangatira Beach. The Kaipara Branch of the NZ Forest and Bird Protection Society are running a campaign (“Vehicles OFF Beaches”) and requested the Board give particular consideration to the issue.

The Board are aware that for a significant period of time the public have been permitted access to beaches such as Muriwai, and that for many years Muriwai Beach provided the best access to a number of properties further up the peninsula.  In some cases vehicular access to the beach has virtually become a “customary right” - the beach is a popular recreational area and is well used for picnicking and fishing.  Many more vehicles are now capable of accessing beaches – 4-wheel drive recreational vehicles, 4-wheel quad and off-road trail bikes and other customised vehicles – and not only has the intensity of use increased but modern vehicles also permit movement off the beach and onto adjoining  foredune and associated natural areas.  Most recently the conflicting interests of pedestrians and vehicle use of beach areas has been reflected in a number of serious accidents and demonstrates well why everywhere else in the community foot and vehicular traffic are completely separated.

The beach also has important ecological and conservation values which have become better understood over time, and are now the subject of intense public interest.  The mass migration of godwits each year from areas such as the Papakanui Spit is followed closely on the internet and on TV – an epic journey only made because of the existence of a safe haven and feeding grounds at South Head.  Possibly less well known, this area is one of the few where fairy tern still successfully nest in New Zealand and is of critical importance to the survival of this species.

The lower beach is habitat for bivalve molluscs such as the now relatively rare toheroa,   while fields of tubeworms, etc are the feeding ground for other birds such as oystercatchers.  The maintenance of natural values such as these is not compatible with relatively open and wide scale use by vehicular traffic which is usually below the high tide line, where the sand is firmer .

In brief, several areas of conflict between vehicles and the protection of the natural values of beaches exist;-

• Disturbance of feeding, roosting and nesting coastal birds including species of high conservation importance
• Damage to the beach tidal zone and its associated flora and fauna of ecological importance
• Disturbance of the wilderness and coastal heritage values of areas like Muriwai/Te Oneone/Rangatira Beach/Papakanui Spit lessening both the recreational value and reducing the safety of pedestrian users.
• Infringement of Wahi Tapu status: Muriwai / Te One One / Rangitira Beach is spiritually significant to iwi as being part of the spiritual pathway to Cape Reinga, and because many battles were fought in this area.      
• Intrusion of off-road capable vehicles onto fragile dune systems and adjoining natural areas, creating significant damage and cost for repairs.
• The use of four wheel drive vehicles to transport equipment for para penting, para gliding, kite surfing and similar activities, often right to launch sites on top of the dunes, also greatly disturbs roosting birds as these large winged apparatus appear to be like giant predators to them. This is critically important at times of the year when migratory birds are resting and trying to gain body weight, prior to or following incredibly long flights.

There is clearly a case for more direct intervention and management of the public’s access to areas such as these and we are requesting that Council give further consideration to its policies in this regard. The Department of Conservation in their Conservation Management Strategy (CMS 2005) and after wide consultation identified the South Head dune-lands as most notable in the entire Auckland region and advocated permanent protection of the area for conservation purposes.

To date efforts to lessen the conflict between Muriwai Beach’s ecological and recreational values and the use of the area by motor vehicles has been limited to attempting to control vehicle speed.  Part of the rationale for continued vehicular use relates to the “customary right”; it is doubtful that any legal right exists as neither Section 7 of the Foreshore and Seabed Act or the Land Transport Act provide a justification for maintaining a policy supporting use of public beaches by vehicles.  Specifically the Land Transport Act does not grant a right of public access to a beach in vehicles.  The only area where the Act applies is between MHWS and MLWS and this is not a right of access but is for the purpose of allowing the police to enforce traffic law where beach access by vehicles is permitted.  We believe Councils have the discretion to regulate that activity on beaches including banning vehicular use…e.g. Rodney DC already have a bylaw, Chapter 14, 5.1(d) that states that (where nominated) the public cannot take any vehicle onto a beach except by the most direct route to launch or recover a boat.

The Board notes that specifically in relation to Muriwai Beach the main South Head Road has now been realigned and sealed over its full length and provides better access to all properties in this area.  Improved access to the beach is also provided at strategic points lessening the requirement for public access onto and along the entire length of the beach.   It may be timely for the relevant Councils to consider whether some intermediate position is appropriate including restricting/banning the use of motor vehicles on certain sectors of the beach, and enforcing much tighter speed restrictions in other places.  Without some action it is likely that the problems around conflicting recreational use, damage to fragile ecosystems and disturbance to internationally important wildlife habitat will escalate with unfortunate consequences.

The Board would welcome the opportunity to meet with Council and discuss ways to progress positive outcomes for all stakeholders around this issue.

Yours sincerely

Denise Yates
Board Chairperson
Cc Council Chairperson, ARC and RDC