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The number of complaints about Pāpāmoa Beach nude bathers or their behaviour could be as high as a dozen over the past three years, new data shows.
A section of the beach, near the junction of Maranui St and Pāpāmoa Beach Rd, has been enjoyed by nudists for decades.
There are no bylaws prohibiting or restricting nude bathing in Tauranga and police say there is no specific offence related to it.
Official Information provided by police about the number of complaints about nude bathers and/or their behaviour on Pāpāmoa Beach showed there were four events in each of 2019, 2022 and 2021.
It was not clear whether the 12 events were all complaints about nude bathers and/or their behaviour.
In September 2018, the council adopted a new beaches bylaw, which included rules for driving on the beach and fires, but didn't include nude bathing rules.
Instead, the council said: "Lewd behaviour is a police matter and is best managed through existing national legislation."
The practice of nude sunbathing was discussed at a council meeting in May of that year, where a councillor said it was an issue regularly raised.
The updated bylaw replaced the Beaches Bylaw 2007. The new bylaw will be due for a review in 2028.
The Official Information Act request specifically asked for "the number of complaints about people bathing nude/their behaviour on Pāpāmoa Beach".
Police had to search their records by performing a word search for "nude or nudity or naked" in combination with the words "beach, and location in Pāpāmoa" for the records, former Bay of Plenty District Commander Andy McGregor said in the response dated May 4.
The area on Pāpāmoa Beach where nude bathing takes place. Photo / NZME
"Note that it is not possible to account for all the different ways someone could describe this situation in the narrative of each event, so there may be some events that have not been included.
"Police [have] reviewed each identified event manually to filter out false positives (for example, 'nude colour wallet lost at Pāpāmoa beach')."
The data was drawn from an operational database and was subject to change as new information was recorded or updated.
Tauranga City Council does not record complaints about nude bathing because no bylaws prohibit or restrict it.
The council's regulation monitoring team leader Stuart Goodman said activity at the beach was not monitored by the council or police.
"It is a lawful activity, so long as the intent and act of those who are sunbathing nude are respectful," he said.
"Indecent exposure is illegal, however, the intent and act that this is mainly interpreted depends on the situation."
If a complaint was made to the council about the behaviour of individuals bathing nude, it would refer them to the police, Goodman said.
As an example, if someone was sunbathing nude but not indecently exposing themselves to another person or with the intent to frighten, cause alarm or be offensive, their actions can be deemed legal.
"This can be even so if people are startled or offended by what they see", Goodman said.
"The New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 protects people's rights such as this activity.
"Along with this Act and other parts of New Zealand case law, this is the only form of what you might like to refer to as 'legal framework' which exists to the latter."
If someone was bathing nude and was acting inappropriately or with reckless disregard, then their actions could be deemed offensive or indecent.
An example could be someone exposing their genitals with intent to shock, alarm or frighten someone or doing so without due care knowing that if they are seen it will cause the same reaction, Goodman said.
