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In a decision on 12 Dec 2011 the Environment Court denied the withdrawal of the case by the proposers and reversed the road stopping. A valuable win for recreation again. More can be found on the Auckland 4WD Club website   along with a downloadable PDF copy of the full decision

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For many years, LVVTA has had a desire to be able to understand the composition of total LVV certification activities.
This is partly out of interest, but also to put ourselves in a position where we can track trends, and identify areas of growth so that we are better able to prioritise the implementation of technical standards or information sheets in order to assist LVV Certifiers as they are presented with changing trends and new challenges.

More information about the LVVTA can be found on their upgraded website www.lvvta.org.nz

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The NZFWDA are members of the international 4x4 organisation UFWDA. A variety of articles and information with pages 30-31 cover reasons for winch rope failures

Click the link to read 'online'....   http://www.ebookonline.co.nz/doc/ufwda_voice_summer

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• February 2012 to August 2012
  Informal discussions with the community, where we will discuss and gather information and ideas used to prepare the draft CMS.
• September 2012 - October 2012
  Drafting stage of the CMS where we will clarify and seek your feedback on any issues that you raised in the informal discussions.
• March 2013
  We will be formally notifying the draft Tongariro Whanganui Taranaki CMS and this is your opportunity to make a submission on the draft CMS.

Should you wish to be involved in the Tongariro Whanganui Taranaki CMS process, please email twtcms@doc.govt.nz and include your:

• Name
• Address
• Contact phone number
• and reference Tongariro Whanganui Taranaki CMS Review in the subject of the email

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The Nelson/Marlborough Conservation Management Strategy (CMS) review process will start in September 2011. There will be three stages of consultation and you can choose to be involved in any of the steps below:

The first stage is pre-draft consultation, which is when DoC gather and discuss information and ideas which are used to prepare the draft CMS. This will take place from September 2011 until December 2011.

This is a 'once in ten years'  chance to influence how recreation might use public lands. Now is the time to start researching and identifying 4x4 recreation options and opportunities within this conservancy for presentation to DoC. The pre-draft period is vital as it is very, very hard to add material at the later stages of the process.

Contact the conservancy office and ask to be included in all correspondence about the CMS consultation process.

To be involved in the Nelson/Marlborough CMS process, please email cmsnm@doc.govt.nz

Please include your name, address, contact phone and add "Nelson/Marlborough CMS review" in the subject of the email.

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http://www.lawcom.govt.nz/project/review-incorporated-societies-act-1908?quicktabs_23=issues_paper#node-2091

The Commission is seeking feedback on a range of issues and options for reform raised in the paper including: 

• Whether all societies should, as a condition of incorporation, be subject to certain minimum governance rules that they cannot vary; 
• Whether a new Act ought to provide a code that makes the obligations of committee members clearer; 
• How the Act should provide for the resolution of disputes between members and their societies; 
• What rules societies ought to be required to have in their constitution, and the nature of those rules.

The Commission also considers whether a new Incorporated Societies Act should also replace the ability to incorporate under the Charitable Trusts Act.

Make a submission on the paper.  Submissions close on 30 September 2011.

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Quoted from Yahoo-xtra news and confirmed by Phil Heatley MP at the NZFWDA conference

Associate Local Government Minister John Carter said today the seaward boundaries of 23 territorial authorities had been "standardised" to the low tide mark -- officially known as the "mean low water springs" -- so that all 53 coastal councils have the same boundaries at the foreshore.

"The key benefit... is that it will allow all territorial authorities to locally regulate public nuisances and safety issues on beaches where issues arise," he said in a statement.

Until now, only 30 authorities had jurisdiction to the low tide mark, and the remaining 23 had jurisdiction to the mean high water springs -- leaving those councils with no right to regulate activities on the full beach area.

Mr Carter said it would now be up to those councils to manage issues such as the use of vehicles on beaches.

"It will allow local control where there is a community preference for such measures, and answers the demand from many coastal residents and beach users for safer beaches," he said.

In some regions -- such as parts of Northland where beaches are treated as legal roads with 100kmh speed limits, causing environmental and safety concerns -- district councils have suggested expanding their boundaries from the high tide mark to the low tide mark, allowing them to then transfer their bylaw-making powers to the regional council.

The issue was highlighted on New Year's Eve 2007, when Daisy Fernandez, 13, was struck and killed by a motorbike on Ripiro Beach near Dargaville on New Year's Eve 2007.

Far North District Council Mayor Wayne Brown has previously argued his council is not the right agency to impose speed restrictions on beaches.

"Beaches are owned by the Crown, and the Government needs to take the lead in progressing this issue. That doesn't mean fobbing it off on district councils, which already have enough to do."

He was not available for comment today but a council spokesman said extension of jurisdiction would mean the council's ability to control vehicles in reserve areas, including a speed limit of 15kmh, could be applied to beaches if necessary.

"The council will now need to consider whether, in fact, it wishes to enforce the bylaws related to reserves where the reserve area is a beach...whether the speed limit under the bylaws needs to be changed, or whether it may wish to delegate some or all enforcement responsibilities to the regional council."

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The CMS review process will include two stages of consultation.  The first being pre-draft consultation, which is when we gather and discuss information and ideas which are used to prepare the draft CMS. This will take place between April and the middle of July 2011.  The second opportunity will be the formal submission stage where the draft CMS is publicly notified and this is planned to take place during February-March 2012.

  http://www.doc.govt.nz/getting-involved/consultations/current/auckland-cms-consultation/get-involved/

We will do our best to keep you informed and advised on what's going on during this process.

On our website www.doc.govt.nz/aucklandcms you will find information about the Auckland CMS review including how you can have your say about the places, conservation and recreation values that matter to you.

This process will be the same as Northland's, check out that on this NZFWDA website too

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There is a Bill in Parliament concerning a serious unformed legal roads (ULR) issue.

 There are several aspects of the Bill which give concern. A specific bylaw making power to address vehicular use of unformed legal roads has been included in the Land Transport (Road Safety and Other Matters) Amendment Bill (213-2) (14 December 2010) before Parliament as at January 2011

www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/SC/Documents/Reports/9/9/a/49DBSCH_SCR4954_1-Land-Transport-Road-Safety-and-Other-Matters-Amendment.htm

Timing

There is a timing issue: the Bill was reported back from select committee on 14 December 2010 with minimal notification and Ministry of Transport (MoT) say that they expect the Bill to be considered and pass the remaining stages quite soon (Feb/March). If changes are to be made then there is an opportunity when the Bill is considered at the committee stage through a supplementary order paper.   

The issue

This (and the previous government) approved legislation to empower territorial authorities to make bylaws restricting the use of motor vehicles on unformed legal roads for the purposes specified in paragraph (g) in clause 10 (1) of the Bill.  The drafting of that clause correctly reflects that policy.  The paragraphs reflect accurately the government decision and there’s not a major problem with that. The paragraphs make it clear that local authorities can restrict access on ULR for environmental and safety reasons.

Concerns

There are, however, some concerns about the way the decision is given effect to in the Bill:

·         Paragraph (zk) of clause 10 provides for a very generalised bylaw making power which, as drafted, could be argued to extend the bylaw making power in respect of unformed legal roads  beyond that intended by government policy.  For example, a local authority could restrict all use of ULR in its area by means of a bylaw. It was definitely not the policy to extend the powers of territorial authorities to restrict pedestrian, cycle or horseback use of unformed legal roads beyond the restrictions currently provided for in the Local Government Act 1974.

·         It is possible that the wording of s 22AB (2) (a) and (b) of the Land Transport Act 1998 “to all roads” and “to all vehicles” in each of these provisions arguably extend the scope of the bylaws that may be made under paragraph (g) in a way that was never intended or anticipated. The intention is that the purpose of these bylaws should be addressed in respect of a particular unformed legal road, not to the set of roads that come within the jurisdiction of a territorial authority. A bylaw of this scope to control unformed legal roads in this way was never contemplated.

A concern is that the purpose and intent of the originally agreed change (para (g) is potentially undermined in two ways:

• By the potential for the power to apply to all or any set of ULR in a council area rather than a particular set of named or specified roads (as is presently required); and

·         The “catch-all” nature of paragraph (zk)  of clause 10 risks extending the potential to make bylaws in respect of unformed legal roads that could restrict their public use more than was intended by the approved policies.

In essence, the issue is the potential for the “law of unintended consequences” to arise due to the relationship between paragraph (g) in clause 10 (1) and general power in paragraph (zk).  

The Minister of Transport can disallow bylaws that are considered to be “onerous”.

Solutions

There are possible solutions which retain the intent of paragraph (g) in clause 10 (1) while constraining any broad application of paragraph (zk)  of clause 10. For example:

-          Add a proviso to paragraph (g) in clause 10 (1) that any or part of any ULR contained in such a bylaw must be named specifically together with the reasons and time of restriction;

-          Add a proviso to paragraph (zk)  of clause 10 to the effect that no bylaw may hinder the right of the public to pass and repass on foot on any ULR and that any or part of any ULR contained in such a bylaw must be named specifically together with the reasons and time of restriction.

The wording of these changes would require fine-tuning.

There is also a recommendation made " that road controlling authorities should be able in certain circumstances (such as declaring part of a road as a bus lane) to use a council resolution, instead of having to amend a bylaw, a process requiring a special consultative process"

There is considerable potential for abuse of that process with the public losing an opportunity for involvement in the decision.

At this stage only writing to the Minister of Transport along the lines described above can possibly change this dubious law change.

 Contact details

Hon Steven Joyce

Minister of Transport

Parliament Office
Private Bag 18888
Parliament Buildings
Wellington 6160

Email contact s.joyce@ministers.govt.nz

Phone: (04)817 6813 Fax: (04)817 6513

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http://www.wams.org.nz/

WAC have spent several months developing a powerful mapping tool for New Zealand land owners and the recreational community, to identify and update information about walking access throughout the country. 

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NZFWDA.org.nz | Kindly sponsored by Jeep and ARB

http://archive.benchmarkemail.com/nzfwda

This link will take you to all the monthly newsletters to date.

 To get on the mailing list, simply use the 'subscribe' tab at the top right of this page

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www.doc.govt.nz/about-doc/news/media-releases/4wd-weekends-coming-up-in-clarence-reserve/

Five 4WD weekends are scheduled up until the end of February with the first due to take place on Marlborough Anniversary weekend, Saturday 30 October through to Monday 1 November.

Other 4WD weekends are scheduled for 26 November to 28 November 2010, and 7 January to 9 January 2011; 28 January to 30 January 2011; 25 February to 27 February 2011, road and weather conditions permitting. Gates open from 8am to 5pm each day.

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Public submissions are being invited on this bill. The closing date for submissions is Friday,
19 November 2010.
The committee intends to travel widely to hear submissions on the bill, to locations including
Invercargill, Christchurch, Blenheim, Wellington, Bay of Plenty, Hamilton, Auckland and
Whangarei. “This is an issue that a lot of New Zealanders feel strongly about. We want to
hear from all people who have an interest in the foreshore and seabed of New Zealand” said
Hon Tau Henare, Chairperson of the Māori Affairs Select Committee.
The bill aims to reform the law relating to ownership of the foreshore and seabed following a
review of the Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004 which was completed in June 2009. The bill
defines a “common marine and coastal area” which means the marine and coastal area other
than specified freehold land (land already in private ownership) and conservation areas and
reserves and "the bed of Te Whaanga Lagoon in the Chatham Islands" and provides that
"neither the Crown nor any other person owns, or is capable of owning, the common marine
and coastal area”. The bill aims to give legal recognition, protection and expression to the
customary interests of Māori over the common marine and coastal area. The bill details
various public rights and powers over this area, such as public rights of access, navigation and
fishing.
A copy of the bill can be purchased at any Bennetts Government Bookshop or viewed online
at www.legislation.govt.nz
Submissions should be forwarded by the due date, either online using our website
(www.parliament.nz) or in writing to the address below. If a submitter wishes to appear
before the committee, they need to state this clearly and provide a name, daytime phone
number and email address. Submissions generally become public and are published on our
website. For further guidance on making a submission, read our publication Making a
submission to a Parliamentary Select Committee on our website or contact us at
 04 817 9520.

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Do you know that the National government intends removing Crown ownership from the foreshore and seabed by the end of summer? This is effectively taking your property. It is virtually the giving away of a priceless public asset. The reason is simply politics and power. To retain its power base the National Government has agreed in return for Maori Party support in Parliament, to repeal the 2004 Foreshore and Seabed Act. That 2004 Act re-affirmed the Crown ownership that had been in place since 1840. The foreshore and seabed has been, and is at present, there for every New Zealander to use, enjoy and be responsible for.

Read the comments of Dr Hugh Barr and then write your own comments to the Select Committee to reach them before 19 November 2010

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www.doc.govt.nz/publications/about-doc/role/policies-and-plans/conservation-management-strategies/west-coast/

The main document is a large PDF file but it is available as individual sections too.

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the season calendar for 2010- 2011 can be found on the NZFWDA forum...

   www.nzfwda.org.nz/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=70&p=113#p113

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Information and resources (including the Information Guide to the Sports Tribunal and the Rules of the Sports Tribunal) about the Tribunal are available from our website at www.sportstribunal.org.nz. 

 Brent Ellis

Registrar

Sports Tribunal of New Zealand 

ph:  0800 55 66 80

fax:  0800 55 66 81

mobile:  021 228 5742

e-mail:  info@sportstribunal.org.nz

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The NZFWDA annual general meeting voted in favour of aligning with Drug Free Sport NZ with 29 for and 5 against the proposal....

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NZFWDA.org.nz | Kindly sponsored by Jeep and ARB

Dear Club Secretary,

Are you looking for ideas for your next trip?

 Interislander offers special group rates, flexible payment options and easy group check in for groups of 10 people or more. If you are taking equipment, have specific needs or take multiple trips per year, our friendly staff can tailor a package to meet your particular travel requirements.

Make a group booking for travel with Interislander any time from now until 30 November 2010 and we will give you a free Interislander family pass (approximate value $500). This voucher* will be valid for a year and makes a great prize for any raffles and fund raisers you may have coming up to fund your trip.

  Interislander operates three ships, the Kaitaki, Arahura and Aratere with up to 11 sailings a day, so you have a wide choice of travel times.

  Once onboard there is plenty to see and do - enjoy a meal together, relax at the bar or simply take in the breathtaking scenery. Kaitaki Plus, our luxury lounge onboard Kaitaki is another great option for groups.

  For more information, a quote or to book your Interislander journey, please contact our groups booking team on 0800 878 898 or email groups@interislander.co.nz

Regards,

Gavin Rutherford

Sales & Marketing Manager

* voucher excludes travel 16 December - 25 January, Easter & Labour Weekend

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The Walking Access Commission has signed a contract with Terralink International to map public access - walking and other - across New Zealand. It is a project that will break new ground technically and in its usefulness. The system is planned to be available on the web. Viewers will need to print off the maps/information they require.

An outline of the system can be downloaded 

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NZFWDA.org.nz | Kindly sponsored by Jeep and ARB

All going well there will be regular updates from RANZ on outdoor issues throughout 2010.

RANZ now has its own Channel on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/user/recreationaccessnz

Please bookmark the above and the RANZ web site for future reference
http://www.recreationaccess.org.nz

My first project for the new decade is a video rebuttal of the opinion of MAF, and their advisers, that it is not possible to create new unformed roads over private land. This is a critically important matter for all outdoor recreationists.

If the resultant official policy, that in future only easements over private land will be sought for public access rather than public roads, then the certainty of unhindered passage over roads could be replaced by much inferior privileges. Unformed roads are potentially most at risk – all 56,000 km of them – from extinguishment and realignment of access as easements.

Before Christmas I challenged the official position at a public meeting with representatives of the Walking Access Commission. They had no answers to my criticism, and showed no interest in my offer to brief the Commission's CEO on the findings of my research or in the papers I handed to him. So be warned – their policy line is well entrenched – their political masters will have to be persuaded to intervene. It appears that, these days,  unless you are a mining or other commercial plunderer of the outdoors, only noise and friction – lots of it – has any effect on the business of Government.

You and your recreational organisation must take an active interest in this issue and lobby Government, right up to PM level.
Ask the outnumbered recreation members of the Walking Access Commission what they are doing about it...
Brian Stephenson brian@bwstephenson.com
Brian is a barrister with extensive experience in employment law and dispute resolution. He is a past president of Federated Mountain Clubs of New Zealand.
Dr Kay Booth kay@lindis.co.nz
Kay is a tourism and recreation consultant with twenty years experience in parks and recreation research and planning. She has held executive positions with non-government conservation and recreation organisations.

The Bushey Park Road Saga is viewable on YouTube as a 10 min overview or as a 60 minute documentary (in nine parts). I can supply the hour doco as a DVD at $20 per disk (donations also appreciated).

Email orders and payment details: bruce@recreationaccess.org.nz
Please make cheques out to 'Recreation Access New Zealand'

 Bruce Mason

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On January 16th, the web server crashed and in the process corrupted the database which stored a large amount of our web site's content. Unfortunately we were unable to recover any data from the corrupted files.

Although it was largely the fault of our web hosting provider, we will be taking extra precautions ourselves by keeping our own database backups so to prevent such a huge loss should the same situation repeat itself.

We have begun to rebuild the sites content and bring things back up to date. If you notice any content that is in-correct and you have the updated information, please get in contact with us.

I apologise for the inconvenience this has caused and thank you for your paitence.

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The NZFWDA have assembled an online survey to try to get a picture of what four wheelers prefer to do with their vehicles. If we are going to be suggesting to DOC and others what they should be planning for, then we should be using solid data from a wide spectrum of 4x4 users.

It's not a long survey and unless you decide to provide your email address there is no other identification of responses.

Please take part as the numbers are important.

This survey will close on 21 May 2008

Click here to take the survey now

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NZFWDA.org.nz | Kindly sponsored by Jeep and ARB

NZFWDA.org.nz | Kindly sponsored by Jeep and ARB

NZFWDA.org.nz | Kindly sponsored by Jeep and ARB

NZFWDA.org.nz | Kindly sponsored by Jeep and ARB

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