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  • Walking Access – Organisational structure, legislation and funding (cabinet paper)
  • Roading Law as it Applies to Unformed Roads – The Sequel
  • Report to the Minister of Rural Affairs
  • Analysis of written submissions
  • Roading law as it applies to unformed roads
  • Elements of the law on movable water boundaries
  • Consultation document
  • Summary document
  • Walking access in the New Zealand outdoors
  • The law on public access along water margins
  • Analysis of written submissions on the report: Walking access in the New Zealand outdoors
  • If visitors to my farm are injured, am I liable?
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Outdoor Walking Access Report to the Minister for Rural Affairs

PART 4 CONCLUSION

• Overall recommendations

19 Conclusion

The Panel believes that its report closely reflects a consensus on access. The Panel’s long-term objective is to revitalise traditional goodwill on access. Consequently, this report affirms the importance of the present incremental, largely voluntary and negotiated processes. Any new approach on access will evolve only as demands change.

The Panel recognises that not everyone will agree with this approach. There will still be a need to consider the extent to which the available access, both formal and informal, falls short of public expectations. How these expectations will be met will depend on the scope and resources available for negotiating more formal access.

The Panel did not find a consensus for the more regulatory approach to access proposed in the alternative view of one Panel member in section 21.

The proposed access organisation (Te Ara o Papatuanuku) is the core of the strategy described in this report. The Panel wishes to emphasis that, without the leadership found in a dedicated, independent agency, the current frustrations and problems will remain. The functions and success of Te Ara o Papatuanuku will require stakeholder support and adequate funding. The Panel considers that an establishment board should assess and report on required funding.

The Panel urges the Government to reflect the spirit of the consultation and consensus by willingly adopting this report. The suggested “plan of action” (see section 22) demonstrates how the proposed access policy could be achieved. This is a staged approach. The Panel is aware that an access policy must be based in law and implemented well.

The major legislative initiative recommended by the Panel is to review the New Zealand Walkways Act 1990 so that it becomes more generic while capturing the spirit that the walkways concept originally engendered. The Panel also concludes that rights and obligations in respect of unformed legal roads be reviewed. While it can be a risk to attempt to capture the past, the Panel recognises that reviving the walkways legislation (and the manner in which it was administered – national guidance, local implementation) would rekindle the “access spirit”. The legislation received the support of key stakeholders: landholders, local government and the public. The Panel strongly advocates that the Minister for Rural Affairs and the Government advance similar legislation in consultation with these stakeholders.

Overall recommendations The Panel recommends that: the spirit of the consultation and the consensus be reflected by the Government willingly adopting this report; the effectiveness of the proposals in the report (assuming they are adopted by the Government) be subject to an external review in 10 years; an establishment board of Te Ara o Papatuanuku assess and report on required funding; the Minister for Rural Affairs and the Government advance legislation similar to the Walkways Act in consultation with stakeholders.