VAHRYOUS THOUGHTS
The four-wheeling community is comprised of a widely diverse cross section of the general population, along with the same foibles and variety of opinions. Maybe that is why it can be so difficult to get overall agreement on recreational use of vehicles in public places.
I have been following an ongoing discussion in Australia’s NSW… “With school and public holidays recently, and the extension of the border bubble, residents of the beaches south of Ballina are reporting that the 4WD traffic, volume and behaviour is getting worse every weekend.” That newspaper article concluded with “It would be so easy to close the beaches off to safeguard the public and the environment immediately, until such time as land managers could be appointed,” said Ms Ward.
“To just allow a coastal ecosystem to be destroyed does not make sense.”
Sounds very familiar doesn’t it, especially here in the north of New Zealand. The long west coast beaches such as at Muriwai/ Te Oneone Rangatira Beach , Pouto/Ripiro Beach and Ninety Mile Beach/ Te Oneroa-a-Tohe Beach are a magnet for beachgoers of many persuasions, including those who drive 4x4s.
Some 4x4 owners are fishers who find such a means of transport ideal for reaching beach areas that would be otherwise inaccessible in a timely manner. Others simply enjoy the relatively wide open spaces. Unfortunately, some of those looking for ‘wide open spaces’ assume that because there’s no fence, they can simply go anywhere they wish.
Marking boundaries in the shifting sands of a coastal environment is almost impossible, which means that those property boundaries will always be relatively ill defined and usually somewhere amongst rolling sand dunes.
That’s the case at Muriwai where the foredunes are effectively the coastal boundary of the Regional Park and under current Regional Park bylaws vehicles are not permitted there.
At Ninety Mile Beach it is not so much ‘park’ but private land that has never been delineated along the coastline. Northland Regional Council recently proposed a Draft Te Oneroa-a-Tohe Beach Management Plan to tidy things up.
That got a fair few 4x4 enthusiasts excited about losing access to the dunes. A local responded to one Facebook posting with “The majority think it’s their right to access, and it’s their right to 4x4 wherever they please over the dunes (out of sight out of mind!) But forgetting it has actually been a privilege! At the moment there are idiots four-wheel-driving all over sign-posted middens saying keep off! But no, there is a small minority who are wrecking it for everyone! The provision on the Te Oneroa a Tohe plan was put there because of outcries from iwi and the local communities who were all a part of the consultation hui held up here in the north. Locals especially iwi are sick of the ongoing carnage that’s left behind especially by visitors who head on back to where they came and then again leave their carnage for us who live and breathe the beach and have to see how it all contributes to accelerate the environmental impact that’s created over the already fragile dune systems all along Te Oneroa a Tohe”.
It is probably obvious by now that I’d like to see some restraints on the wandering off into coastal dunes by vehicles and a greater awareness of private lands. The writer of the Facebook posting is also concerned for ‘the already fragile dunes’ and I suspect that the fragility is not necessarily the blame of four wheeling, but more from the commercial forestry planted across the dune fields trapping sand that previously blew around and replenished the beach and foredunes. Of course that’s much the same as in Ballina NSW where ‘locals’ are upset at the effects on their properties and their quiet enjoyment, when they’ve probably bought land that was sand dune so that they could enjoy the coastal environment… the one that they’ve now trapped.
Managing four-wheeling is something we are going to need to adjust to, especially around population centres. It took quite a while, but in October an agreement was signed between the NZFWDA and Department of Conservation (DOC) on the maintenance of the Maratoto/ Whangamata Track that allows managed access, although only as far as the headwaters of the Tairua River. Only about six kilometres of ‘there and back’ track, but an interesting route with some tricky bits and bush views. It is also the only designated ‘off-road’ route on DOC land on the Coromandel.
If you’re going there, take $10 to drop in the ‘donation’ box to help with maintenance and start with a clean vehicle to avoid transporting Kauri Dieback into the area.
Given the scarcity of ‘natural’ venues there is a growing opportunity for ‘pay to play’ venues and at Hampton Downs between Auckland and Hamilton, the managers of the existing racetrack are edging their way into the 4X4 recreation market. It’s ideal ‘mud bog’ country and no doubt there will be a market for that activity, however there is interest in providing an array of less dirty challenges. It will be interesting to watch their creativity and what they can achieve to entertain four wheelers.