Landowners back plans to block Cape Palliser access due to ‘shocking’ vandalism

Private landowners at Cape Palliser want to block access due to vandalism and destruction. Photo / Getty Images

By Checkpoint of RNZ

Private owners whose land is being used as a thoroughfare to reach a remote part of the Cape Palliser coast say the damage being done is shocking and public access is no longer tenable.

The South Wairarapa District Council wants to block use of a paper or unfinished road that leads to the Cape Palliser coastline because of continued vandalism and destruction.

The council’s proposal has caused backlash, particularly among surfers who have been surfing the “gem” of a surf break for decades.

The road passes through private and Crown land before ending at the rugged beach.

People including four-wheel drivers, quad bikers and campers use the road, along with surfers and hikers.

The hapū representing some owners of the land said the whenua is deeply scarred and access needs to be closed indefinitely to allow it to heal.

Ngāti Hinewaka spokesman Haami Te Whaiti told Checkpoint the land owners feel angry and sad about the “shocking” range of damage done to the land.

“We’ve put up with this situation for a very, very long time. We’ve tolerated vehicles running through. We’ve never tried to stop them. We always discussed this with the council and we’ve obeyed the law. We haven’t prevented anybody from driving through there,” he said.

Te Whaiti said the number of vehicles going to the Cape Palliser coast has significantly increased over the past five to 10 years.

“There’s been a number of four-wheel drivers going there just to use it as a playground... to do wheelies and all sorts of things that they do to create a whole lot of ruts,” he said.

Te Whaiti said the land was significantly damaged by a large fire in the 1990s and these activities threaten to undermine the hapū’s attempts to regenerate the land.

“It’s terrible and we pride ourselves on having exercised our kaitiakitanga after the fire, we fenced off a whole area so that the land would revegetate. So, anything about pristine is what we’ve done ourselves to bring it back to that,” he said.

“But it’s not pristine if it’s going to have all these ruts and vehicle evidence using it... as a track for their enjoyment.”

South Wairarapa District Council said it has engaged with Ngāti Hinewaka and agreed the “continued vandalism, disrespect to the land and its owners and the poor social behaviours displayed are not acceptable”.

The council said the proposed bylaw is being developed using powers under the Local Government and Land Transport Acts but acknowledges that restricting walking access to the paper road would not be legally enforceable.

However, that right of access doesn’t extend to the adjoining private land, and council is responding to issues raised by the hapū around ongoing damage to land bordering the paper road.

It is accepting feedback on the proposal until August 19, which will then be reviewed before a final decision is made.

– RNZ