Offroad-Express

Andy's note on this subject was maybe a bit cryptic to some people and I'll
try and expand slightly.
On behalf of the NZFWDA, he and others appeared before the Parliamentary Select Committee yesterday to comment on the Seabed-Foreshore legislation. I tried to get there but Wellington weather kept me out for several hours. I am advised that Andy got some hard questioning and something of a working over by some of the politicians on the committee. At least we hope they will remember that four wheeling were interested enough to appear before the committee, even if the line in the sand is already set.

During the afternoon we met with senior policy and legal people from the
Department of Conservation. DOC are working on new policy to be presented as the Conservation Law Reform Act, possibly in October this year. They have been working on this for quite a while and the NZFWDA had input into a review document about a year ago without realising that the intent was to rewrite the legislation.
The "consultation" yesterday was apparently prompted by a late realisation
that the current DOC legislation does not really address vehicle use in
conservation estate. The NZFWDA national executive are meeting tomorrow in Taupo to consider how this matter can be addressed, along with the realisation that it actually affects a greater cross section of the
community than simply four wheeling and other OHV groups. The possible
impact on hunting and fishing access is huge.
A simplistic approach being put forward by DOC is to regard all conservation land as closed to vehicle use (including mountain bikes....but excluding mobility scooters) unless permitted. How it would be permitted is still to be determined.

Please give us a few days to sort out an approach to this minefield and
allow DOC to deliver the vehicle policy material that they have drafted so
far, for our review.
This is a potential monster and hopefully the NZFWDA will get the support of all four wheelers to address this matter. Be assured, this is not a local
issue but will influence almost all New Zealanders in some way.

If you are part of a 4WD club or organisation who are not part of the NZFWDA we would appreciate advice on whether your group, or you, are prepared to stand with us in our efforts to quickly find answers and achieve a workable piece of law regarding vehicles on our public lands.

Peter Vahry
NZFWDA northern public relations
UFWDA international vice president

Peter, as you say we have many arguments and points in favour of our access to our
lands, the problem will always be the small number of novice and irresponsible people
that spoil so many things for everyone else. Same applies to drink in public places and
concerts, those that burn stolen cars in pine forests etc. It also applies to the highways
and the whole population has to live with it.

Its easy to say the problems on the roads are solved by licensing everyone, perhaps we
should do the same for 4wders - get the license and have access to all these places. But
you don't need a license to drive on the road or get drunk and do it - until you get caught.

Same applies to 4wders - lock the gates and only allow us in if we have a permit or
license will still only keep out the honest ones and some of the rabble, the baddies will
continue to cut fences/locks, make new tracks etc regardless.

We put up with it on the roads, being aware only a few will get caought - perhaps DOC
simply have to live with it in the interests of access for the responsible majority and
attempt to police it as well as they can to catch the baddies? With as much help from us
as they can encourage by being nice to us and getting us on their side instead of
alienating us.

Macetown is a perfect example that is likely to be closed - education will keep some
drivers from messing the place, it won't change the baddies, the only other options are to
fence the track in some places or to close the whole place, policing it would be next to
impossible and would still not preclude people cutting or wrecking the fences or cutting
up new areas. It will never be fixed completely to everyones satisfaction.

I tend to believe the most successful option is to simply leave it alone and put up with
any damage that happens. Make a big publicity effort to educate people, reduce damage
to a minimum and have some policing input by rangers and maybe get the responsible
4wders that visit to report idiots. It may be a historic site but it was an industrial historic
site and there is not a lot of historic damage done by someone splashing up a mudhole
or driving a bank they shouldn't. The buildings and artifacts are quite safe from that sort
of action. There's actually more critical damage done to the area by out of season illegal
goldminers and bottle hunters digging new tunnels and races and excavating old building
sites..

Geoff.

On 9 Aug 2004 at 11:42, Vahry Photography Ltd wrote:

> Fellow four wheelers, while acknowledging that getting your reasons to
> convince DOC to allow four wheeling on our public lands is great.....it is a
> solution to the management of that access, that the NZFWDA are going to need
> to find and put to DOC by August 27.
> Is there an alternative to a permit process? If DOC have no "teeth" will
> they ever be able to deter those without social responsibility? How will the
> OHV community identify present and future areas and routes that we'd like
> recognised for permits?
> Those are some of the questions that need answers! Read the briefing
> document on http://www.nzfwda.org.nz and consider the options.
>
> Peter Vahry
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <geoffzone@paradise.net.nz>
> To: <nz4wd@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Monday, August 09, 2004 11:17 AM
> Subject: Re: [nz4wd] Foreshore and other important matters
>
>
> David, I reckon your message is one of the strongest access arguments we
> have, many
> 4wders, whether club members or not, fit that description.
>
> Add to that the wish of many to take their young kids into these places with
> the safety of
> an accessable vehicle for shelter should the weather turn nasty and ability
> to carry more
> backup such as food, clothing and communication.
>
> Problem is, most of todays young fit trampers think they'll be like that for
> ever, not
> realising the time constraints that families and business pile on as we get
> older. And, of
> course, some of them will sustain injuries that will limit their abilities.
> Then they'll be
> driving 4wds and wondering why they can't go anywhere!
>
> Geoff.
>
> On 5 Aug 2004 at 19:26, David Brown wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > For what it is worth I would like to make a point.
> >
> > In my youth I was an active tramper and enjoyed
> > getting out to many of the fantastic back country
> > places most people would not generally visit.
> >
> > Now that I am a little older (young at heart though),
> > I am now unable to visit many of those places on foot.
> > Four wheel driving has allowed me to continue my
> > passion of exploring NZ's back country (to a lesser
> > extent) and I am happy with this.
> >
> > Will I need to buy a 4wd mobility scooter if this
> > politically correct foolishness is to prevail? And who
> > is going to maintain the tracks?
> >
> > In my opinion New Zealand is for all of us to enjoy.
> > Not just those who are still young and fit and have
> > the stamina to hike long distances.
> >
> > There are many places that 4wd vehicles could never
> > access in this country and I don't think that access
> > for 4wd vehicles should necessarily be provided to
> > those places. However, restricting access to places
> > which have previously been available to 4wd users is
> > in my opinion, a restriction which should be illegal.
> > It is an age based discrimination.
> >
> > NZ4WD should push this angle.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > David Brown
> >
> > --- Vahry Photography Ltd <vahry.photo@xtra.co.nz>
> > wrote:
> >
> > ---------------------------------
> > Andy's note on this subject was maybe a bit cryptic to
> > some people and I'll
> > try and expand slightly.
> > On behalf of the NZFWDA, he and others appeared before
> > the Parliamentary Select Committee yesterday to
> > comment on the Seabed-Foreshore legislation. I tried
> > to get there but Wellington weather kept me out for
> > several hours. I am advised that Andy got some hard
> > questioning and something of a working over by some of
> > the politicians on the committee. At least we hope
> > they will remember that four wheeling were interested
> > enough to appear before the committee, even if the
> > line in the sand is already set.
> >
> > During the afternoon we met with senior policy and
> > legal people from the
> > Department of Conservation. DOC are working on new
> > policy to be presented as the Conservation Law Reform
> > Act, possibly in October this year. They have been
> > working on this for quite a while and the NZFWDA had
> > input into a review document about a year ago without
> > realising that the intent was to rewrite the
> > legislation.
> > The "consultation" yesterday was apparently prompted
> > by a late realisation
> > that the current DOC legislation does not really
> > address vehicle use in
> > conservation estate. The NZFWDA national executive are
> > meeting tomorrow in Taupo to consider how this matter
> > can be addressed, along with the realisation that it
> > actually affects a greater cross section of the
> > community than simply four wheeling and other OHV
> > groups. The possible
> > impact on hunting and fishing access is huge.
> > A simplistic approach being put forward by DOC is to
> > regard all conservation land as closed to vehicle use
> > (including mountain bikes....but excluding mobility
> > scooters) unless permitted. How it would be permitted
> > is still to be determined.
> >
> > Please give us a few days to sort out an approach to
> > this minefield and
> > allow DOC to deliver the vehicle policy material that
> > they have drafted so
> > far, for our review.
> > This is a potential monster and hopefully the NZFWDA
> > will get the support of all four wheelers to address
> > this matter. Be assured, this is not a local
> > issue but will influence almost all New Zealanders in
> > some way.
> >
> > If you are part of a 4WD club or organisation who are
> > not part of the NZFWDA we would appreciate advice on
> > whether your group, or you, are prepared to stand with
> > us in our efforts to quickly find answers and achieve
> > a workable piece of law regarding vehicles on our
> > public lands.
> >
> > Peter Vahry
> > NZFWDA northern public relations
> > UFWDA international vice president