Outdoor Walking Access Report to the Minister for Rural Affairs

20 Summary of recommendations

Recommendations on leadership
 

The Panel recommends that:

  1. an access organisation be established that combines the characteristics of a statutory organisation with those of a trust (the Panel considers that this option is most likely to involve local landowners, users and enthusiastic volunteers);
  2. the organisation be called Te Ara o Papatuanuku (the New Zealand Access Commission), to reflect the importance of rural New Zealand for all New Zealanders;
  3. Te Ara o Papatuanuku be accountable to a Minister and be required to report to Parliament in accordance with the Crown Entities Act 2004.

The Panel recommends that Te Ara o Papatuanuku:

  1. has a governance board appointed by the Minister responsible for the organisation, after consultation with key access stakeholders, with appointees having skills and experience relevant to the organisation’s functions;
  2. has a structure that reflects the need to work with, co-ordinate and promote the recreational access activities of local government and voluntary organisations;
  3. be empowered to carry out the following functions:
    1. provision of national leadership, including a national strategy, and co-ordination of access among key stakeholders and relevant central and local government organisations;
    2. the provision of impartial and robust advice on access;
    3. local/regional leadership and co-ordination to help local groups with their access issues;
    4. mediation of disputes over walking access issues, including the ability to initiate negotiations;
    5. the reference of disputes about legal access to an appropriate authority;
    6. the creation and administration of walkways made under the Walkways Act 1990, with planning and supervision focused at a local level;
    7. the establishment and maintenance of a public access mapping database;
    8. administration of a contestable fund for the purpose of negotiating walking access either under the provisions of the Walkways Act 1990 or new or other existing legislation;
    9. creation of a trust structure able to hold land or interests in land for the purpose of providing walking access;
    10. the receipt and management of private funding contributions (including sponsorships) for the promotion of walking access;
    11. research, education and participation in external access-related topics and programmes;
    12. the development, promotion and maintenance of a code of responsible conduct.

Recommendations on types of access
 

The Panel recommends that:

  1. Te Ara o Papatuanuku works with territorial authorities to develop consistent and appropriate policies for managing unformed legal roads for access;
  2. the mapping of unformed legal roads be a priority for Te Ara o Papatuanuku;
  3. territorial authorities generally be required to retain unformed legal roads for possible future use by the public;
  4. an effective legislative remedy be available to the public (and enforceable in the District Court) for the removal of unlawful obstructions on unformed legal roads;
  5. territorial authorities be provided with more powers to manage the use of unformed legal roads, provided that this is associated with a duty to keep unformed legal roads open to appropriate uses;
  6. Te Ara o Papatuanuku considers developing national guidelines on the administration of unformed legal roads;
  7. consideration be given to assessing whether it may still be possible to stop some unformed legal roads in exchange for alternative access (this could involve more procedural flexibility and Te Ara o Papatuanuku’s participation in the promotion of alternative access arrangements that are in the public interest);
  8. consideration be given to the use of the Crown’s power to resume ownership of the land comprising unformed legal roads to facilitate an exchange for alternative access.

Recommendations on information about existing access
 

The Panel recommends that:

  1. Te Ara o Papatuanuku be responsible for facilitating and co-ordinating the provision of information about access. Maps should be available both through the internet and as printed copies, at a reasonable cost;
  2.  the provision of access maps be a priority for Te Ara o Papatuanuku;
  3. Te Ara o Papatuanuku does a stocktake of existing mapping information and a preliminary analysis of the public’s likely requirements before any further information is prepared;
  4. Te Ara o Papatuanuku be made responsible for establishing and managing a single, publicly accessible and officially recognised database of access information, and that work on this task commences as soon as possible;
  5. Te Ara o Papatuanuku works with territorial authorities, landholders and recreation organisations to supply, install and maintain signage;
  6. Te Ara o Papatuanuku provides a non-binding mediation service to help resolve conflicts between parties on access matters;
  7. Te Ara o Papatuanuku considers the opportunities and risks of making landholder contact details more readily available;
  8. LINZ examines ways of depicting private roads on topographical maps in a way that makes them more readily distinguishable from public roads;
  9. the Government sets a definitive timetable for LINZ to complete its assessment of the means to map marginal strips created since 1987;
  10. the Government considers in more detail the implications of the proposal for minor changes to the Trespass Act 1980 for access along water boundaries where there is or has been public land.

Recommendations on restoring and realigning lost access
 

The Panel recommends that:

  1. Te Ara o Papatuanuku facilitates negotiations among landholders, the Crown and, where relevant, territorial authorities, to restore access to water margins in appropriate cases where such a solution is feasible;
  2. areas of the coast where public access on both the foreshore and the dry margin is unavailable be considered a priority for negotiated access;
  3. access across private land to the coast be negotiated in the same way as other new access.

Recommendations on new access
 

The Panel recommends that:

  1. any new access over private land for walking access be by negotiation and agreement;
  2. Te Ara o Papatuanuku develops and implements a New Zealand Access Strategy, including new access and priorities for funding;
  3. Te Ara o Papatuanuku works with central government to assist councils with funding to compensate landowners, where appropriate;
  4. Te Ara o Papatuanuku supports community initiatives to ensure “quality access” (Principle 1);
  5. the administration of the New Zealand Walkways Act 1990 be transferred to Te Ara o Papatuanuku, subject to a Memorandum of Understanding between Te Ara o Papatuanuku and DOC on the operational management of walkways;
  6. the acquisition of access over private land and the funding of the acquisition of such rights be a function of Te Ara o Papatuanuku;
  7. Te Ara o Papatuanuku be funded to establish and administer a contestable fund for access (Te Ara o Papatuanuku Fund for Access) to which local authorities and other organisations (for example, hapū, trusts, landcare groups, tramping clubs) might apply. The purpose of the Fund would be to enhance public access over private land and other matters relevant to access;
  8. Te Ara o Papatuanuku’s board sets policies on compensation and the use of the Te Ara o Papatuanuku Fund for Access for access other than walking;
  9. Te Ara o Papatuanuku be empowered to provide facilitation and mediation services if requested in the event of conflict, but not have powers of arbitration;
  10. Te Ara o Papatuanuku works with local government on the use of district and regional plans to enhance public access;
  11. Te Ara o Papatuanuku works with central and local government to investigate how the use of the RMA for access could be improved, including the merits or otherwise of the four-hectare requirement for esplanade reserves;
  12. the Government investigate options for amending the RMA to ensure that landholders who voluntarily provide access on their land are not penalised as a consequence;
  13. consideration be given to providing Te Ara o Papatuanuku with status similar to that of a heritage protection authority so that ultimately it could initiate the compulsory acquisition powers under the Public Works Act in respect of access (in exceptional circumstances only);
  14. a review of the effectiveness of the Overseas Investment Act 2005 in improving public access takes place in five years.

Recommendations on Māori land and access
 

The Panel recommends that:

  1. access over Māori land (other than may already be provided for in statute) be by a suitable process of negotiation and agreement with the owners (this is consistent with the Panel’s view on the establishment of new access over all private land) – Te Ara o Papatuanuku would need to consult with Māori about a suitable negotiation approach;
  2. Te Ara o Papatuanuku explores opportunities to improve access by Māori to tāonga both through the use of existing access rights such as unformed legal roads and through negotiation and agreement with private landowners.

Recommendations on a code of responsible conduct
 

The Panel recommends that:

  1. Te Ara o Papatuanuku co-ordinates the development of a voluntary code of responsible conduct with other agencies and organisations involved in outdoor recreation and rural land management (including DOC, Federated Farmers, local authorities and recreational groups), with the objective of having an agreed core code;
  2. Te Ara o Papatuanuku promotes and encourages the teaching of good behaviour in the outdoors, especially in primary schools. It should also investigate the scope for providing overseas tourists with information about good behaviour in the outdoors (such as the proposed code of responsible conduct) at the point of entry into New Zealand.

Recommendations on landholder liability
 

The Panel recommends that:

  1. consideration be given to amending the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 to exclude from the “all practicable steps” category circumstances where there is a charge to recover costs incurred in facilitating access, but not extending to a charge for gain or reward;
  2. the Department of Labour reviews the bulletin If Visitors to My Farm are Injured, Am I Liable? in consultation with landholders, recreation organisations and Te Ara o Papatuanuku to further clarify landholder liability and to explain the Department’s relevant compliance policies;
  3. an exemption to the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1962 similar to the Walkways Act be considered for persons on rural land for recreation or leisure with the permission of the landholder.

Recommendation on fire risk

  1. The Panel recommends that a code of responsible conduct contain provisions to help reduce fire risk.

Recommendations on rural crime and security
 

The following suggestions fall outside the scope of an access organisation, but the Panel considers that it would be useful to:

  1. strengthen Neighbourhood Watch in rural areas (although this was commonly suggested by some recreational submitters, many landholders objected to the idea that they should take on yet more responsibility here – especially if necessitated by increased public access);
  2. increase the amount of active engagement between the Police and rural communities;
  3. improve links between recreation groups and rural communities;
  4. build a case for having more Police in rural areas, and/or create a law enforcement position (for example, community/rural constables or residents warranted by councils) so that there are more people in rural areas with a law enforcement role.

Recommendation on biosecurity

  1. The Panel recommends that measures to minimise biosecurity risks be included in the proposed code of responsible conduct, particularly the appropriate disposal of human waste.

Recommendations on “exclusive capture”
 

The Panel recommends that the Minister of Conservation:

  1. considers the options in this report, with the aim of resolving the matter quickly as the concern has existed for many years;
  2. makes a decision as quickly as possible on the need for and conditions of fishing guide licensing.

Recommendations on access with motor vehicles, horses and bicycles
 

The Panel recommends that:

  1. Te Ara o Papatuanuku be empowered to consider all forms of access (there are efficiencies in an access organisation dealing with all forms of access) but with walking access as its priority area of concern;
  2. Te Ara o Papatuanuku co-ordinates its activities with organisations concerned with other forms of access, such as mountain-biking clubs, four-wheel-drive clubs and Fish & Game Councils, but, in doing so, Te Ara o Papatuanuku should not compromise walking access outcomes;

Note: the Panel’s recommendation on a policy on unformed legal roads is set out in section 8.

Recommendation on hunting

  1. The Panel recommends that the carrying of firearms be a matter of negotiation among the parties involved in any negotiated access arrangement.

Recommendation on dogs

  1. The Panel recommends that access with dogs be a matter of negotiation among the parties involved in any negotiated access arrangement.

Overall recommendations
 

The Panel recommends that:

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