Lighthouse at Cape Palliser. Photo: RNZ/Carol Stiles
The chair of Ngati Hinewaka in South Wairarapa says there is "huge relief" at a council decision to block access to motor vehicles on the Cape Palliser Paper Road at the southern tip of the North Island.
The South Wairarapa District council agreed this week to amend a proposed bylaw which would have cut off all public access to parts of the Cape Palliser coast.
The initial proposal caused a backlash, particularly among surfers who had been riding the prized surf break for decades.
The amended proposal will allow pedestrians, bicycles and e-bikes for a 24-month period only. Only local landowners are allowed vehicle access, along with people specifically invited by the Department of Conservation and the Council.
The road passes through privately owned Māori land and Crown land before ending at a rugged beach ahead of the Stonewall scenic reserve.
The area includes wāhi tapu sites, ancestral burial grounds and historic pā sites.
Earlier in the year, the council said native flora and fauna in the area had been damaged by four-wheel drives, quad bikes and campers, who were also a fire risk.
Consultation ahead of Wednesday's vote resulted in an unprecedented 3565 submissions, with a little over 10 percent in favour of the blanket ban.
Chair of Ngati Hinewaka, Haami Te Whaiti, welcomed the outcome. He said the amended proposal would still give the coastline time to heal from decades of damaging use.
"This is not about trying to stop people from going there - it's about getting the proper setup [to] allow them to be there, and at the moment that's not happening.
"They are going onto our land, they are camping on our land, they are diving off our land and they do not ask permission - they just go there and do it. [They] leave behind a mess, and stock that have grazed there, they have been killed. It is a whole lot of disorder that is been going on."
The council also agreed to survey and define the exact route of the road and install signage to prevent people from straying into important areas.
"The land is very special culturally with pā sites and garden sites and burials," Te Whaiti said.
"There is area that needs to be protected and unfortunately those four-wheel drives - some have just gone crazy.
"It does not matter if it is a few people or a whole lot of people. It is the damage that's been caused. They cannot tell the difference between where they are supposed and where they are not supposed to be."
South Wairarapa Mayor Martin Connelly. Photo: Supplied/ South Wairarapa District Council
South Wairarapa Mayor Martin Connelly said erosion of the road had forced vehicles to enter parts of the land where the route was never intended to be.
"Before we do anything we actually have to have a proper survey done so we can actually be clear about where the road actually is.
"What I think has happened is that as the road has become increasingly eroded into the sea, people have just formed an impromptu road further inland, and people think that is what the paper road really is but it's almost certainly not."
Connelly said a large number of submissions on the proposed bylaw were from out of the area.
"What they did have a concern about was the original idea that was being mooted by the council - was that the road would be closed full-stop to everybody. That generated considerable concern amongst the outdoor access groups, walking groups etc.
"I think everybody is pretty broadly agreed that proposal was never going to fly. It's not something councils have the legal mandate to do.
"I think the fact that we put it forward in a proposal generated a considerable amount of concern which could have been avoided if a little bit more thought had gone into the proposal that was going out."
Surfer can't catch a break
Wellington surfer Greg Brown organised a campaign to stop the restrictions called 'Save White Rock', named after the surf break.Brown told Morning Report he was "a little disappointed in the decision".
"We put together a bit of a campaign to raise awareness, to try and get the council to understand a surfer's point of view."
He said the decision-making process included a tight consultation process which did not involve surfers and other users of the area.
Brown did not dispute that the land was significant to local iwi and that damage had been done in the area.
"Clearly there are many sites that are significant to the iwi and you know signage, appropriate fencing and really just a better understanding of these places is what's required."
He told Morning Report the main issue he wanted to put on the table was that when the surf breaks of national significance were being considered in 2008, White Rock was included.
It was later taken off the list, which Brown wanted to be addressed and be considered by the council as part of the consultation process.
He said that the White Rock surf break was now not accessible for surfers given it would be kilometres from where the gated entrance to the area was.
"You'd have to be superhuman to walk there with all your surfing equipment, food, have a surf, and then walk all the way back."
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