‘A real and immediate threat!’
I have sometimes been accused of scaremongering about potential threats to various aspects of access options for four wheeling. Many risks do exist and are often lurking in unforeseen legislation. A bit over a month ago, an email was received from a retired Walking Access Commission executive who admitted that he’d deliberately stepped away from commenting on access matters. However, he was so alarmed at finding out that – as a consequence of the government’s ‘ Rules Reduction Taskforce’ project – both the Department of Internal Affairs ( DIA) and Land Information NZ ( LINZ) have been working on a review of unformed legal roads ( ULR), he just had to speak up. While it is suggested that there will be ‘consultation’, a check on the www.dia.govt. nz site reveals the statement; “The Department of Internal Affairs will work with agencies to develop options for stopping paper roads. This will identify potential actions that could be completed to respond to the Taskforce opportunity” and dated “by 31 December 2016”. Their suggestion is that this will streamline the process of road stopping, while still ensuring appropriate public access. I’m pretty sure that vehicle use will not be recognised as ‘appropriate’ by most local authorities! If local government (councils, etc.) get a simplified capability that removes many of the current checks and balances, then it’s easy to foresee a wholesale disposal of ULR which are viewed by most local authorities as a distinct liability. Many outdoor recreations find the existence of ULR ( or ‘paper roads’ as Internal Affairs incorrectly describes them) a huge benefit allowing passage through otherwise privately owned countryside. In his note about this potential threat, the writer commented; “I see this project as a real and immediate threat to the ULR concept and network. My experience is that the DIA, LINZ and Local Government NZ do not like ULR and see this project as a good opportunity to change the law.” It seems that since this project is one managed by central government departments, the Walking Access Commission is not a central player and will only be consulted. When the Walking Access Commission was itself originally ‘consulting’ on how it would manage recreation access, it seriously proposed that the ULR network would be the basis of walking routes with vehicle use restricted. At the time a very strong push back from four-wheelers and others managed to change that view and in fact the Commission became a champion of the value of ULR to all for access. It looks like it will be up to user recreations and the public to challenge these potential law changes if we don’t want to lose a lot of present and future access to our countryside. Some letters to the relevant government ministers would be a start. Four-wheeling relies on having places to go and without options like ULR we will be considerably constrained. There are ULR that provide a legal right to public passage that bisect Department of Conservation (DoC) lands, forestry land and other private lands. The Environment Court is presently the place where the public can challenge a proposed road stopping and much to the discomfort of local authorities, the Court has frequently ruled in favour of the public interest. The suggestion of ‘streamlining’ the road stopping process may well involve reducing the public ability to engage through the Court. While not a ULR, the route through the Tongariro Forest known as the 42 Traverse is in need of some cutting back of overgrowing vegetation to minimise risk to users and to allow sunlight and wind to dry the surface of the track. A dry surface reduces erosion and silt generation significantly, which is important to maintaining the water quality in the local streams. The group ‘ Friends of 42 Traverse Inc.’ have organised with DoC to run a ‘cut back’ weekend over 11/12 November. People can just do the Saturday or stay over for the Sunday morning too. There’s more detail on www.friendsof4 2traverse.nz Efforts like these can be very effective in demonstrating user interest in ensuring ongoing access and are especially important for the 42 Traverse on conservation stewardship land with a conservation management strategy ( CMS) overdue for review. Those CMS are a ten-year plan that set out how the conservation lands are managed and whether vehicle use is permitted. Keep an eye too on the DoC website for notice of the Bay of Plenty CMS review ( under the Consultation tab) which was to be notified in August. We are going to need to get involved with all those agencies if we want to have the option of driving on some public lands. The photo shows a councilendorsed vehicle obstruction to a ULR that extends right to the coast of the Kaipara Harbour, north-west of Auckland.
Canterbury has four major rivers that collect water from the Southern Alps and carry it southwest to the Pacific coast. From south they are the Waitaki, Rangitata, Rakaia and Waimakariri. Those last three all have spectacular gorges. Ahuriri, Hopkins, Dobson, Tasman, Pukaki, Tekapo, Godley, Cass and Macaulay rivers also begin in the Alps. Their direct route to the sea is blocked by the Hunter Hills that rise parallel to the coast from Timaru to Waimate, forcing them to pool their water into Lake Benmore. Benmore’s dam and power station send power throughout New Zealand. Much of the water has already made electricity before getting to Benmore and it continues downstream to do more work at Aviemore and Waitaki power stations. The Waitaki runs arrow-straight to the sea. Total capacity of the eight hydros is about 1700 Megawatts. The water travels through the Mackenzie Basin during its downhill ride via canals, rivers and lakes so it’s an interesting area to travel and explore. There’s plenty to do and see. The infrastructure is generally well supplied with informative displays. There are places to camp or stay at Omarama, Kurow, Twizel, Tekapo and elsewhere. North of Timaru the Canterbury Plains are crossed by three rivers that also run straight to the sea. The first of them is the Rangitata. The island is about 160km wide here yet its headwaters rise barely 40km from the Tasman sea on the West Coast. It’s quite a journey from glaciers and steep mountain streams and a gorge to cross the island then amble across the flat agricultural plains to the sea. Above its gorge the Rangi’ has a wide basin with Mesopotamia on the south side, Erewhon and Mt Potts stations opposite. You can drive the south route from Peel Forest, while from the north access is via Mt Somers and the Ashburton Gorge to Lakes Camp and Clearwater. After Clearwater the road climbs through stark open country toward distant peaks. Quite suddenly the scene changes and opens out to a wide vista of mountains surrounding the huge river basin. Good for a photo shoot and to absorb the scene. The Potts River winds below from its deep cleft. In the distance is Erewhon at the end of the road with its strange ‘Jumped Up Downs’ and Mt Sunday of Edoras ( Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Ed) fame is obvious jutting from the riverbed. Mt Potts and skifield are above. The Rangitata begins at Erewhon – the Havelock River feeds it from the most distant valley and the Clyde joins from north. This basin gets very hot and dry in summer and can be snowbound in winter. On retreat a visit to Lake Heron is worthwhile. There’s a small camp there. The Rakaia is the next major river, with similarities to the Rangi’. It too rises far to the west and is joined by the Mathias and Wilberforce rivers near Lake Coleridge – with yet another, historic, power station. The Rakaia has road access along both sides. The northern route ends at the Coleridge intake where water is diverted into the lake. There’s a loop road out to Lake Lyndon and SH73. The Rakaia has a high bridge over its gorge with jet boating available. From there the river flattens out for its trip across the plains. Its bridge across SH1 is the longest in the country. Further north we have the Waimakariri that passes just north of Christchurch. Its headwaters are on the other side of the island too so, like the others, it can rise unexpectedly during a beautiful clear summer day if there’s rain on the west coast. That should be kept in mind at all times when near them. The Waimak’s gorge is spectacular, a great jet boat trip or can be seen in its splendour from the TranzAlpine train. The Arthurs Pass highway to the West Coast passes alongside much of the river. These rivers and their surroundings offer fishing, kayaking, climbing, tramping, skiing, 4WDing, jet boating, rafting, camping, scenic flights and other pursuits. Mt Cook is a feature of the Mackenzie Country, Lakes Tekapo, Pukaki and Ohau are spectacular, and Omarama is a major gliding centre.