Offroad-Express

DOC have advised that the West Coast CMS draft is available for public comment. A link to their site is available from http://www.nzfwda.org.nz

Submissions close on Oct 5.

It is important that four wheelers have input into this CMS as these documents rule how a conservancy operates for a 10 year period.

There are public meetings with DOC on the West Coast from Mon 23 July.

Call DOC on 03 756 9100 for more information. (They have a free CD available of the draft CMS)

Peter Vahry

Combined 4Wd Clubs Inc will be making submissions.

When we put submissions into the last wellington CMS in 1994 we found it more effective to seek ammendments to specific selected clauses that affect us and how they should be re-written and why, rather than the more genralised "we beleive blah blah blah...." that seems to get obsorved and lost within the process

its a bit of a biased game to start with as the "independant" conservation boards that administer the submission processes are appointed to the roles and are not elected and tend to be hand picked by doc to be considered safe people to follow the view of the department

rant over...

im going to the meeting in westport on the 24th july 2 see wt they plan so far

i ended up missing the meeting due to being a couple of miles off shore and didnt get bak in time but some others i know went and sounds like for now as far as 4x4ing goes for now we r doing buisness as usual but i have a cd with the westcoast draft for conservation managment stratergy july 2007 volumes1&2 about 600 pages
well i got allot of reading to do
i have a spare copy from doc if anyone from ore wants to get involved
i will b in ch ch wednesday so if anyone in ch ch wants it can hook up

Hi nuts
Happy reading.
I have been through the Document and it is very much like others I have gone through over the years. There are some issues that we will respond to but in the main as you said it is business as usual.
Paul

To view the document (688 pages) http://www.doc.govt.nz/templates/page.aspx?id=44266
Submission form http://www.doc.govt.nz/upload/documents ... n-form.doc

The specific bit which concerns me is Poilcy 2 of clause 3.6.5.18 Vehicle use (page 274) which reads:
"Off-road use of motorised vehicles should be actively discouraged in public conservation lands. The Department will actively encourage all mechanised vehicle use to be restricted to those formed roads or circumstances identified in Policies 4-12 below, so that this use is consistent with the protection of conservation values and public safety."

This is a significant change to the present policy which is to allow access unless there is a reason not to!

It's worth reading the whole clause to get it all in perspective - a long post but I'll paste it in... Note that the submission form specifically asks you to identify the clause you disagree with, and suggest revised wording.

3.6.2.2 Provision and management of recreational opportunities
Policies

3. The reasonable requirements of different groups of people (such as the disabled, the elderly and young children) and the desired recreational outcomes for Places (see Chapter 4.2, ‘Recreation and tourism in 2017’) should be taken into account when maintaining or upgrading existing facilities or when considering proposals for new recreational facilities or modes of access. This applies to facilities and services provided by the Department or by concessionaires.

4. Recreation opportunities that are based on the special character and features of the West Coast Te Tai o Poutini’s public conservation lands should be provided, taking into account existing opportunities available elsewhere within the Place, Conservancy and New Zealand’s public conservation land.



3.6.5.18 Vehicle use (page 274)
This section relates to all motorised modes of transport used on land, including trains, hovercraft and other motorised vehicles, excluding aircraft (see Section 3.6.5.2). Use of mechanised vehicles can adversely affect conservation values of public conservation lands and/or detract from the natural quiet associated with these areas and the way that people enjoy them. Use of mechanised modes of transport also has the potential to endanger the safety of drivers or other users of public conservation lands.

Vehicle usage on land is generally associated with roads. There are two main types of formed road in which the Department has an interest:
• highways and other formed legal roads passing alongside or through public conservation lands and administered by other agencies, e.g. district councils, Transit New Zealand (see Section 3.6.5.9); and
• roads formed within public conservation lands (rather than on legal roads) and managed by the Department.

This section provides management guidance for motorised vehicle use on this type of road, which is defined for the purpose of this CMS as ‘a formed surface that was originally constructed for the purpose of vehicle movement and which continues to be suitable and safe for use for that original purpose’. A formed road therefore does not include routes that have been formed as a result of repeated or periodic motor vehicle driving activity on areas not originally constructed for such use, or surfaces which have deteriorated or regenerated to a stage where they are no longer suitable and safe for the purpose of vehicle movement.

Vehicle access on roads that are managed by the Department may be restricted (i.e. available for specific access purposes but not recreational purposes) or prohibited, depending on the category applying to each specific road and the legal status of the land the road runs through. The following categories are applied to roads managed by the Department:
• Public access roads are roads maintained by the Department for the purpose of providing public access to recreational facilities and other sites.
• Roads suitable for recreational driving. A limited number of other roads are suitable for recreational driving (e.g. four-wheel drive tours) and will be managed as such. Many of these roads were formed for purposes other than conservation management (e.g. old forestry roads) and are no longer required by the Department for management purposes. The Department will therefore not actively maintain all of the roads that are currently suitable for recreational driving. Roads that become unsafe for vehicle use in the future may be closed. Closure may be by way of gates or other physical barrier.
• Restricted access roads are roads that are not available to the public but which may be available to authorised parties, including concessionaires, under certain circumstances (e.g. enabling the West Coast Regional Council to check flood warning devices). Restriction may be by way of WEST COAST TE TAI O POUTINI CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT STRATEGY – DRAFT 2007 274 bylaws, or regulations, or by allocation of keys on gates across restricted access roads to authorised parties.

At the time of writing, the use of vehicles is generally legally permitted on reserves, conservation areas and on formed roads within national parks. However, the Department is not required to facilitate vehicle access to all places where they are legally permitted.

POLICIES

The use of vehicles and any other forms of transport should be compatible with the statutory purposes for which the place is held, or be necessary to enable the Department to perform its functions.
[policy 9.5(a), Conservation General Policy 2005]

1. Vehicles and other forms of transport may be allowed within public conservation lands as described in Policies 2-12 below. The Department should work with roading and aviation controlling authorities to avoid or otherwise minimise the adverse effects of specified types of vehicles and aircraft on public conservation lands and waters and the public enjoyment of those places.
[policy 9.5(c), Conservation General Policy 2005]

2. Off-road use of motorised vehicles should be actively discouraged in public conservation lands. The Department will actively encourage all mechanised vehicle use to be restricted to those formed roads or circumstances identified in Policies 4-12 below, so that this use is consistent with the protection of conservation values and public safety.

3. Barriers may be erected by the Department to control or exclude motorised vehicles at places:
a) where access by vehicles may adversely affect conservation values;
b) where vehicle access is contrary to the management objectives for the place (e.g. an objective may be to facilitate restoration of an old roadway to a more natural state);
c) for purposes of public safety; or
d) for other reasons considered necessary.

Public access roads
WEST COAST TE TAI O POUTINI CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT STRATEGY – DRAFT 2007 275

4. Vehicle use will continue to be authorised on public access roads that the Department maintains, as long as their carriageways remain safe to use.

Roads suitable for recreational driving

5. The Department will identify, with signage, those roads in West Coast Te Tai o Poutini public conservation lands where recreational driving use is appropriate.

6. Roads on public conservation land will be closed when the condition of the carriageway, culverts or other structures places conservation values or public safety at risk. Closure may be by way of bylaws, regulations, notices or by gates or other physical barriers.

7. People undertaking recreational driving should be encouraged to follow the four-wheel drive ‘Tread Lightly’ driving codes.

8. Roads on public conservation land that are no longer required for conservation management purposes or recreational access will not be maintained but may remain until they become impassable or are actively removed. The Department may consider allowing other organisations to undertake road maintenance so that roads that are no longer required for conservation management remain available for recreational use (written authority, in the form of a concession or management agreement, must first be obtained from the Conservancy Office).

Off-road motorised vehicle use

9. Some commercial or other activities that the Department authorises may require the use of motorised equipment or vehicles within public conservation lands where roads have not previously been formed. Whether vehicle or equipment usage is appropriate for the area will be determined on a case-by-case basis, and may be authorised in some circumstances subject to conditions (e.g. that remedial work is undertaken upon completion of the operations).

Vehicle parking

10. Where necessary, the Department will identify appropriate places for vehicle parking in public conservation lands.
WEST COAST TE TAI O POUTINI CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT STRATEGY – DRAFT 2007 276

11. Vehicle-based camping should be in accordance with local authority regulations.

12. All commercial transport operators (such as coach tours) will require a concession to use Departmental car parks and associated facilities.

I spoke to a couple of 'Coasters today who have attended a consultation meeting. This is serious!

The proposed Policy of "actively discouraging vehicle use on other than formed roads" is a significant statement which will wipe out the West Coast as a 4WD destination. If this goes through unchanged - the Coast will be limited to the likes Big River - and only until DOC decide they don't want to maintain the road anymore. Goodbye to shiny trips like Napoleons Hill & the Caves. The Reefton Challenge weekend will be gone forever. No more Hard Yakka trips around the Denniston area...

I urge everyone to read the document & put in a submission! This is not "Business as Usual"!

muddy wrote: Goodbye to shiny trips like Napoleons Hill & the Caves. The Reefton Challenge weekend will be gone forever. No more Hard Yakka trips around the Denniston area...

I urge everyone to read the document & put in a submission! This is not "Business as Usual"!

have you given much thought to how your going to do your submission yet muddy, are you just going to recommend the obove places be retained for 4x4 access?

I havent had much involvement with doc policy for a few years but they used to have a national policy/document called ROS (recerational oppotunities spectrum or something like that) which was a national policy that outlines different levels of receration that conservencies were to provide in their regional policies and it included the requirement to provide for 4x4 recerational oppotunities.

If this policy/document is still active what better way to get them with their own head ofice national policies

well allot of the tracks we do over here arn't maintained by doc in the part that we ( local 4x4ers ) maintain allot of them ourselves putting in time and and our own gear to keep them clear enough to keep access available ... allot of shovel and pick work as well as where trees fall over tracks we remove them so the tracks r accessable
the local club has even done work in conjunction with doc
as i have only just started looking into keeping access open im new at it so any help wld b good

Watch this space - I'll do a bit more research & try to put together a concise summary. DOC must chop down a LOT of trees to get enough paper to put their policy documents together....

There's draft CMS, a Visitor Strategy document, extracts from the various legislation, The DOC General Policy for National Parks - National Park Management Plans, and a few other policy documents which seem to have all the right buzzwords about "balancing the needs of competing interests", "To provide a comprehensive range of recreational opportunities that enable people with different capabilities and interests to enjoy and appreciate the West Coast", "maintaining good working relationships with recreational groups"

So I think there are enough bits to make it clear that the clause to "actively discourage vehicle use" is contradictory to a number of other stated policies and "desired outcomes". The difficult bit is to put it into a concise summary - something that DOC are definitely not good at....

Give me a couple of days & I'll try to post something up which may form a reasonable basis for us to get a decent number of submissions trogether without them all being identical...

Muddy,
Get ORE 4x4 Assn to get a submission in too. More the better

Following is the format & ideas I'm using for my submission. Anyone is welcome to cut & paste, or build on them. Some may want a harder line approach than I've proposed, but I'm personally quite supportive of the concept of controlled access by permit.

Read on.....

1. The specific part of this CMS that my comment relates to is: Section 3.6.5.18 Vehicle Use (page 274)

Policy Number 2 - Off -road use of motorised vehicles should be actively discouraged in public conservation lands. The Department will actively encourage all mechanised vehicle use to be restricted to those formed roads or circumstances identified in Policies 4-12 below, so that this use is consistent with the protection of conservation values and public safety.

Policy Number 6. Roads on public conservation land will be closed when the condition of the carriageway, culverts or other structures places conservation values or public safety at risk. Closure may be by way of bylaws, regulations, notices or by gates or other physical barriers.

Policy Number 8. Roads on public conservation land that are no longer required for conservation management purposes or recreational access will not be maintained but may remain until they become impassable or are actively removed. The Department may consider allowing other organisations to undertake road maintenance so that roads that are no longer required for conservation management remain available for recreational use (written authority, in the form of a concession or management agreement, must first be obtained from the Conservancy Office).


2. My comment is that:
Please state concisely the nature of your concerns. Clearly indicate whether you support or oppose the specific part of the CMS, or wish to have amendments made. Please give reasons.

I oppose these policies with the draft wording!

It is contrary to legislation and a number of other DOC policies. The draft policies reflect an abrogation of the responsibility to manage vehicle access to provide recreational opportunities consistent with the need to maintain conservation values. Instead, it attempts to deny all recreational vehicle use, rather than establish policies and procedures to manage vehicle use in an appropriate and responsible manner. It is acknowledged that inappropriate and irresponsible vehicle use has the potential to cause significant damage. It is obvious that procedures need to be established for ensuring controlled access and responsible behaviour by utilising a permit system, but it is not appropriate to deny all recreational vehicle use in an attempt to prevent the irresponsible activities of a minority. In fact, it is more likely that encouraging responsible vehicle users will reduce the likelihood or frequency of inappropriate activities.

Responsible off-road use of motor vehicles should be considered to be an equally legitimate recreational activity as any other. As such, the Department has a legislated responsibility to provide recreational opportunities for 4WD enthusiasts. Vehicle routes should be treated in a similar manner to walking tracks. A simple classification system could easily be implemented to indicate what standard of vehicle and driving experience is required, from basic tracks requiring no more than 4WD, road tyres and adequate ground clearance, to those requiring several well-equipped vehicles with winches and recovery equipment. This would allow safety responsibilities to be met in the same manner as for walking tracks, by ensuring users are appropriately advised as to the hazards and requirements of the various routes.

Much of the historical and cultural significance of the West Coast revolves around mining and its associated development of vehicle routes. These should not be closed off arbitrarily. In fact the greatest threat to many historic routes is caused by the regeneration of bush, and the routes need to be used regularly in order to ensure their preservation.

Additionally, off-road vehicles provide an important avenue for many disabled or elderly people to access remote areas. Legislation clearly requires the Department to cater to their needs as well as those of able-bodied people.

All policies provide for responsible use of off-road vehicles in appropriate areas. A default policy to deny access is unreasonable, inappropriate, and contradictory to other policies and legislation.

Extracts from relevant policy documents and legislation are included below:

General Policy for National Parks - POLICIES 8.1 Planning and management in general
8.1(c) Planning and management for recreation and other opportunities for the benefit, use and enjoyment of each national park should:
i) preserve national park values, including natural quiet, as far as possible;
ii) minimise adverse effects, including cumulative effects, on national park values;
iii) provide for a range of experiences to enable people with different capabilities, skills and interests to have the opportunity to benefit, use, enjoy, and gain inspiration from national parks; and
iv) maintain the distinctive character of recreation in New Zealand national parks, including the traditional New Zealand backcountry experience with its ethos of self-reliance.
8.1(f) The Department should undertake advocacy and work cooperatively with other people and organisations to secure legal and practical access to national parks.
The Conservation Act describes one function of the department as being -
“to the extent that the use of any natural or historic resource for recreation or tourism is not inconsistent with its conservation, to foster the use of natural and historic resources for recreation, and to allow their use for tourism.â€

buller 4x4 got an inviromental award
and at the deniston breakhead reopening today got praised by doc for there efforts in helping to remove wreaks from areas that couldnt be got to by normal methods

The full CMS is available from:

http://www.doc.govt.nz/templates/MultiP ... x?id=44268

or

I have mirrored them:

http://www.wjw.co.nz/volume_I_complete.pdf (59MB)
http://www.wjw.co.nz/Volume_II.pdf (11MB)

I have printed it all out, printer nearly had a meltdown. I will start to read tonite. I have been in contact with other interested parties and between us all we are coming up with good stuff for submissions. ORE Committee will be putting one forward, I will take responsibility for this. Any members tghat have anything to add please forward to me either email or Pm.
Al

Only stuff to do with the Westcoast, I don't have the time currently to focus on any other access issues. I will address others questions on Canty stuff at a later date.
Al

Combined 4WD Clubs Inc have had a special meeting with senior DOC officials on this CMS.
We have arranged a special meeting in Christchurch as follows for all interested 4WD people.
Date:- Wednesday 12th September 2007
Time:- 7.00pm
Place:- Cashmere Club Colombo Street Christchurch

Come along and partake as it is open to all.
Regards
Paul

There are some useful phrases possibly that might be used from this publication... both from the minister's and the director general's comments.

http://www.doc.govt.nz/upload/documents ... n-2007.pdf

For South Canterbury Folks there is also a meeting in Timaru details are:-
13th September , 7pm Pipe Band Hall. Turnbull Street.
Paul

Debate about 4WD access to public land has been boosted by the Otago Cons Bd's Workshop in Dunedin a week or so ago, and it came up again in the DOC-NGO Meeting last Thursday. At the mtg Campbell Robertson, DOC Hokitika said 4WD access was one of the 2 main issues to come out of consultation so far.

Campbell says he has held a 4WD workshop in Hoki, and has one planned for Christchurch "soon". I will email him for details. Would be good if 4WD people from Canterbury, with an interest in the West Coast shoulks get along.

Copy of email sent to Al Morrison.

Al: at the DOC-NGO meeting last Thursday, we had a presentation on the West Coast CMS from Campbell Robertson from the Coast.
A major public issue with the Coast CMS is 4WD access to public conservation land. West Coast Conservancy has held a workshop with West Coast 4WD-ers, and is holding one with Canterbury 4WDers that use the West Coast.

It seems to my Council that it would be valuable for DOC to hold such workshops with those interested in 4WD-ing sustainably on public conservation land in every conservancy where these is significant 4WD-ing on public land, and 4WD access is an issue.

There is no reference to 4WD access in the 2005 General Policies, so no guidance on how 4WD recreation is going to be catered for. Recently a valuable workshop on 4WD use of Public Conservation Land was held in Dunedin, at the request of the Otago Conservation Board. Though I did not attend, those that did said it was a very useful meeting, and participants gained a much better understanding of the various stakeholders' positions and desires.

Consequently it was suggested by DOC staff that I write to you making the above request.

4WD-ing is increasing in popularity, and most 4WD clubs have safety and environmental codes, to minimise accident risk and damage to the environment. They have every right, given they are responsible, to 4WD on public conservation land, on appropriate vehicle trails. DOC staff do so.

I note too that the NZ Four Wheel Drive Association has recently joined the Council of Outdoor Recreation Associations as a national member.

Another reference for those preparing comments to the CMS process can be found on http://www.NZFWDA.org.nz under the West Coast CMS link on the home page.
The reference is as a PDF scanned from an update document received last week from the Minister of Conservation, with reference to DOC actions since the 2006 Recreation Summit.

It would appear to make it difficult for a CMS to exclude 4WD activity entirely and makes strong statements about providing for it.

Peter Vahry

I have been in contact with DOC in Hoki. They have advised there will be 'workshops' in CHCH on the 12th September and in Timaru on the 13th September. Once i have details of where and when i will post details here

Here is the dates and times for the DOC meetings in CHCH and Timaru

Wednesday 12 September 7pm, Christchurch, Cashmere Club (Colombo St, Port Hills end)
Thursday 13 September 7pm, Timaru, Pipe Band Hall (Turnbull Street)

Cheers for that Madaz, Good work and I will be there.

Me too

in case u guys didnt know doc r removing the fourmile bridge due to undermining of the supports at one end wil post a couple of pics leater today

I have received an email from Campbell today detailing what the evenings will be about. If you would like to have a copy please leave your email address and i will forward to you.

More people we can get there the better.

the dammage isnt that bad



view2



view3



had a close look at it and it wouldnt take much to fix 2 truck loads approx 10mtrs of concrete ....
but they in their infinate nonwisdom decided that they r going to pull it down and have already contracted it out ..
i recon its more like they dont want to maintain the roads on the other side but that ok as it just means another weather dependant track