Public access for motor vehicles
Herenga ā Nuku Aotearoa has an objective to lead and support the negotiation, establishment, maintenance and improvement of all types of access, including access for motor vehicles (Section 9 of the Walking Access Act 2008).
However, we also have a responsibility to balance our advocacy with other competing interests, including environmental wellbeing and the access rights of other recreationists and active transport users.
Examples of motor vehicle access that we engage with include car access to beaches, 4WDs on unformed legal roads and dirt biking on forestry roads. These are all legitimate forms of outdoor recreation and benefit community wellbeing and connection.
The impact that motor vehicles have on the environment and other people’s enjoyment of access is significantly more than the impact of access by other forms of transport. For instance, 4WDs can cause significant damage to the terrain they traverse and destroy habitats for plants and animals. Motor vehicles can also dominate an area with their noise and size, making outdoor access less pleasant for other people accessing the area.
We are regularly required to comment on and identify potential access opportunities through submissions, responses to Overseas Investment Office queries and casework. It is harder to assess outdoor access for motor vehicles than other forms of outdoor access because of the increased likelihood of adverse environmental and community impacts.
When considering motor vehicle access to the outdoors, we use the following set of principles based on Policy 20 in the Department of Conservation’s 2010 NZ Coastal Policy Statement.
Principles for assessing motor vehicle access
Access for vehicles should be controlled when that access might cause:
- damage to geological systems and processes
- harm to ecological systems or to indigenous flora and fauna
- danger to other users of the environment
- disturbance of the peaceful enjoyment of the environment
- damage to historic heritage
- damage to the habitats of hunting and fisheries resources of significance to customary, commercial or recreational users
- damage to sites of significance to tangata whenua.
When considering access for motor vehicles, it is also useful to distinguish between access to a recreational site – for instance, to a fishing spot or hunting area — and access where the motor vehicle use is the recreational activity, such as dirt biking and 4WDing.