Survey
pegs have 'R' engraved on the road-face.
The road is on the 'R' side of the peg.
The arrow means government property.
This
page created 21 August 2007
Revised 22 December 2009
New Zealand is well provided with public lands and waters where recreational activity is welcome and a public right. Permissible recreational activities are determined by the status of the land and by local regulations or bylaws.
Approximately two-thirds of New Zealand is privately owned or occupied, with few provisions for public entry. Recreation is a privilege requiring prior permission. There is no 'right to roam' over private land.
All recreational activity entails responsibilities not to damage the environment, property, and the experiences of others.
Where to go for recreation
o National,
conservation, and forest parks.
o Scenic, recreation and historic reserves, conservation
areas.
o Regional and local parks and reserves.
o Crown forests: These are former state forests
where Crown ownership has been retained but with forestry rights
granted. All forestry licences are subject to rights of public
entry by foot. Many licences make provision for other forms of
recreation and for access to adjoining lands. Without sign-posting
it is very difficult to determine where these exist and what rights
licensees have to close access for forestry operations. Inquires
about access and recreation provisions should be directed to Land
Information New Zealand, Wellington.
o Foreshore (between high and low water marks):
almost all is in Crown ownership with rights of recreation subject
to local regulation.
o The Sea: Rights of navigation as well as anything
"reasonably incidental" to the right; fishing within
the law.
o River and lake beds (all large, navigable rivers
and most larger lake beds are in Crown ownership). Fishing by
licence. All natural water is part of 'the commons' and incapable
of ownership by anyone, including the Crown. The Crown regulates
water use.
o The Queen's Chain: In addition to larger reserves,
approximately 70% of coast, river and lake banks are in public
ownership variously reserved as 20m wide public roads, marginal
strips, or esplanade reserves. The QC extends along many:
o Sea shores (above the high tide mark: variously defined)
o River banks (larger rivers only; not where beds less than 3m between banks)
o Lake banks (along many but not all lake shores)
How to find public
lands
Most
printed topographic maps do not show where public lands and roads
are. Representation of a road or track on topo maps does not necessarily
indicate a public right of way. Department of Conservation maps
and pamphlets most helpful where there is coverage, but often
these don't show all public access. Main entry points to parks
and reserves are usually sign-posted. DOC offices
and visitor centres, and local authorities, provide information
and are generally helpful.
An on-line source is the DOC conservation lands and walking track database.
Note however this does not show DOC/public access easements over
private land (very prevalent in South island high country). This
requires access to the DOC GIS web site (see also 'Rights of way'
below).
To get similar information on local authority parks and reserves requires approaches to individual councils.
Trespass
It is
an offence to enter onto privately occupied land without prior
permission (but not prosecutable). 'Trespassers will be prosecuted'
signs have no legal standing intruders must be warned off
in person or by letter.
Criminal offences are committed by failure to provide correct name and address to the occupier, by failing to leave if directed to do so, or by returning within two years of warning to stay off. There are serious personal consequences if convicted.
It is a criminal
offence to be within enclosed premises without permission.
How to find the owners
of private land
It is
best to make local inquiries. Owner may be absent, or there may
be a manager on the property. Ownership is difficult to determine
because there is no convenient, inexpensive access to LINZ records;
certificates of title need to be obtained or local authority valuation
rolls inspected. Some rural communities publish farm guides however
these quickly become out of date. Many commercial digital products
provide property information, but require subscription.
Where you cannot
go as of right
o Nature
reserves: prior consent is required. This is unlikely
to be granted for recreation.
o Crown land privately occupied: e.g. pastoral leases
in the South Island high country (reserves and public access being
created through tenure review).
o State-owned enterprise land. Huge areas of government
land are owned by SOEs. Many public access and covenant provisions
exist. DOC is the administering body for these provisions to which
inquires should be directed. All SOE lands are subject to the
reservation of marginal strips along streams wider than 3 metres
bank to bank.
o Private land, unless with prior permission of
the occupier.
o Private land subject to conservation or 'open space' covenants.
Very few covenanted areas provide rights of public access. Prior
permission is usually required as for any other private land.
Access: how to get
to recreation areas
Public roads
Survey pegs have 'R' engraved on the road-face.
The road is on the 'R' side of the peg.
The arrow means government property.
Public roads provide, by far, the predominant means of passage in New Zealand. There are 156,000 km of public roads, approximately 56,000 km of which are unformed. Most roads are 20m wide. There are the same "absolute right at common law to pass and repass over a road without hindrance", formed or unformed (does not including motorways). These rights are vested in the public, despite road ownership being vested in local authorities. Most authorities, despite having full powers to deal with obstructions, do not.
At common law "appreciable interferences" with the right of passage are nuisances and such obstructions may be (carefully) dismantled by members of the public, sufficient for the means of passage used. Any materials remain the property of the obstructor and should be left on-site. Members of the public may also instigate legal action against the creators of public nuisances. There is no right to deviate onto adjoining land.
Stiles or gates may alleviate a need to remove obstructing fences. Gates are required to have 'public road' signs. All lawfully erected gates must be left as found. Some roads are confined to foot and or horse use. It is an offence and public nuisance to obstruct roads, other users, or to cause damage for instance through vehicle use. Traffic laws apply over all roads. Roads may be temporally closed by the Police or local authorities.
Unformed roads (colloquially referred to as 'paper roads') are often unfenced or only partly fenced along their boundaries. It is the obligation of users to ensure that they are on the correct alignment. No permission is required from anyone, including the local authority, to use these. However responsible use is essential, with no wilful disturbance of stock straying onto roads (however adjoining farmers have no right to prevent public passage), or inappropriate use of vehicles. Generally, if not formed and metalled, in wet conditions roads should not be used by vehicles. Causing damage is an actionable nuisance and offence.
Locating unformed public roads
Use a commercial
digital product with cadastral data such as 'TUMONZ'. Way-points
can be downloaded into GPS units for field use. This can be useful for tracking the centre-line.
However there can be great variation in accurancy in rural areas due to
the GPS and the spatial accuracy of the LINZ derived cadastre. It is
essentual to first locate trustworthy boundaries like survey marks,
then, depending on the degree of misclose, decide whether to proceed.
A small variation, of say +- 5m, can be used with some certainty of
being near the downloaded centreline of a 20m wide road.
Where road boundaries are 'right-lined' (i.e. a series of connecting straight lines) there is more certainty of alignment. When not right-lined (shown as curved lines on survey plans) alignment is indicative: survey 'monuments' (e.g. survey pegs, tracks, formations, boundary fences), if any, provides evidence of alignment.
Rights of way
Survey pegs have 'RW' engraved on the right-of-way face.
The ROW is on the 'RW' side of the peg.
These are in the form of easements over private land for access to public lands and waters. However these do not show on cadastral maps or digital databases and are difficult to locate and use unless sign-posted. Public rights may be severely restrained, and subject to closure and revocation with no public consultation. Their existence and terms can only be confirmed by inspecting certificates of title, deposited documents, and survey plans for individual properties. Easements for public use include access strips, esplanade strips, and New Zealand Walkways. Unlike public roads, the underlying land remains private with the owner retaining land use rights.
Disappointingly almost all the public access created during pastoral lease tenure review is by easement. Some are being obstructed and DOC has proved reluctant to uphold public rights.
Land Management Agencies
www.doc.govt.nz
www.linz.govt.nz
Help to improve recreation opportunities and the provision of public access by supporting Recreation Access New Zealand <www.recreationaccess.org.nz>
©
Recreation Access New Zealand Inc. December 2009
Reproduction is permitted subject to acknowledgement of RANZ
