Offroad-Express

There's an article in today's ODT about damage to the more sensitive areas that 4WDers are causing. And this is indeed true.

There's no designated 4WD area in Dunedin and 2 of the roads used by 4WDers have been closed in the last couple of years, which I suspect is largely the cause of people 4WDing in stupid places.

It'd be great if people could make sensible comments to the article (if you're registered), or letters to the editor, or even the DCC/ORC explaining that this problem will continue until there is somewhere with casual access for 4WDs to play in in Dunedin.

Here's the article: http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/64635 ... 39-drivers

Letters to the ed can be sent to: odt.editorial @ alliedpress.co.nz

Letters to the DCC Mayor can be send to: pchin @ dcc.govt.nz

And the ORC's contacts are at http://www.orc.govt.nz/portal.asp?categoryid=34




Here's my letter:

Response to ODT's "Dunes not play-ground for drivers":

Fliss is right in her observations; we have access to a lot of sensitive ecological areas that are suffering from some irresponsible 4WDers. However, Dunedin does not have any specific designated casual 4WD play areas unlike most other cities.

Or even information on what is, and isn't, ok. Many people don't understand that beach driving is largely ok, while dune driving is environmentally bad. So even a simple guide saying beach driving is ok at X, Y, Z beaches, but not in any dunes ever would be a good start.

Closing down the 2 roads Dunedin did have for 4WDs without opening up others hasn't helped. I note one of these roads wasn't far from the dunes in Filss' example.

Until we do have designated 4WD play areas the less responsible 4WDers will indeed just go whenever they can and have fun. As wrong as it is, this is just human nature.

While the more responsible, like myself, will leave their vehicles in the garage and wonder why people in other cities have designated casual access to areas they are allowed to play in.

And I added in a personal e-mail to Fliss:

I don't address it below, but the obvious answer is "join the Land Rover club and use their area", which on the face of it sounds reasonable. However it's only open once a month so is essentially useless for casual access. And more importantly it's largely the more irresponsible drivers that do the damage, and they're unlikely to join a club (ie casual access to somewhere is the only solution to getting munters voluntarily out of sensitive areas).

Its proberly the time to hit the council up to try and convince them to give us a place to use, I know cam - 2roky has started something and was trying to arrage all off us Dunedin guys meeting up and do something. Not sure what happened with that thou

Comment from the ODT site:

Submitted by Limelegs on Tue, 14/07/2009 - 10:20am.

While Baxter likes to think of himself as a "responsible 4wder" (oxymoron?) he describes himself on an off-roading website as a "Bush Crasher", and perpetuates the expectation among those who buy offroad motor vehicles, that they will be provided with public land on which to amuse themselves.
Government kindly provides us with lots of places on which we can drive - they are called roads, and they cost lots to maintain because motor vehicles wear them out! If I buy a set of golf clubs I'm not allowed to play golf at the local park because of the disruption and danger I'd cause to others - the Otago Land Rover Club has its own patch of vehicular playground - that's the future for 4wd. Don't demand public land for private destruction.
Anyway, heaven forbid that I would deny that 4wding is "valid recreation"! Whatever rocks your boat can be your recreation, but think of the different societal benefits deriving from physical activity and from driving a motor vehicle. You can drive a motor vehicle on a road, and that's where you should recreate!

Oh dear.. here comes the loony left-wing 'I don't like it so lets ban it' brigade.

shit and fan spring to mind..

sorry nothing happened trying to sort out a meeting never got a reply from them,

that message back to the odt just goes to show how accessible the information we use on this site is and that we do have people watch what we are saying saving it up to use it against us

as for say because we drive we should only be on roads is rediculous the roads that we did use were closed down on us and they didnt cost the council anything to maintain as they never did, it was 4wders that filled in some of the larger holes that caused problems.

think that person needs to get off the whacky baccy and have a look at what they are saying.

we still need to get together and come up with some facts and figures etc to go and see the council with whos keen to set a time and a place im free any day after 5pm

i just posted this on that odt article

1st off id like to say some of the veiws exhibited on this topic are identical to mine and also extremely different.
i was an avid user of the karetai road or track as it was affectionatly known by many. and over the years traversed its lenghts many times in the various vehicles ive owned and enjoyed every minute of each of those trips. i've filled the odd "deep" rut with stones to help other vehicles traverse them and to stop further erosion.

while i was using both of the afformentioned tracks i was allways looking at the other areas that were being used by the "hoon element" and noticed there werent very many places they used. since the closing of the roads the areas that are being used by the "hoon element" are becoming more numerous than ever before coincidence i think not.

for example there are now tracks in places that there never was before one of these being the one shown in the dunes at Smails beach

to stop this use of sensitive areas i think that everyone including the 4wd hating fraternity needs to sit down and say yes we will accept 4wd use in this area and on these tracks and only these tracks/areas. (the council does own a huge acreage of forestry that would be perfect for us to use would it not? there the damage could be mitigated by rotating us through blocks that were about to be logged as they cut new tracks etc as they go about logging. if this was to happen then fines could be handed out to that "hoon element" that are abusing and destroying the sensitve areas

sorry for the long windedness of this but it is something i feel strongly about

Im keen to get involved, im away on hoilday next week, but other than that im keen to see where we can get this to go,

Any night suits me, execpt mondays. As for venue, can really help their sorry, I have no lounge at my flat, either a bar - possibly the baaaa and have a few quiets or something, let me know