Nude men cause beach problems

Nude men have been stepping out of bounds at Uretiti Beach.

The beach and dunes more than 200 metres south of the Department of Conservation (DoC) campground at Uretiti have long been a safe haven for people who prefer au naturel exposure for an all-over suntan.

But some men have not been keeping this distance. Instead, they have been walking naked along the southern boundary of the campground and stripping off in the public day area north of the camp.

Campground manager Kevin McCleary said naked men had been found watching young girls or swimming in the surf near children on the beach in front of the campground.

Police had been called last month when a woman complained about a man behaving indecently after he had crept close to her when she was sunbathing nude.

Ruakaka police yesterday confirmed the 32-year-old man had not been formally charged because the woman had not wanted to take the issue to court.

The Uretiti campground, DoC's largest in the country, with up to 500 sites, is now filling with summer holidaymakers, including large numbers of children, and Mr McCleary wants the visitors to enjoy the beach without naked men causing offence.

"My biggest concern is that someone like a child's father could take the law into their own hands," he said. "I'd like people to respect Uretiti is a public beach and any form of nudity in the campground reserve or on the beach in front of it is unacceptable."

Mr McCleary said that when he told a man who was starkers on a walkway by the camp to put on his pants, the man had claimed he had a right to be nude at Uretiti.

"I warned him I would call the police if he did it again. There are no legal nude beaches in New Zealand," Mr McCleary said. He quoted the Summary Offences Act 1981 law on indecent exposure, warning a person faces up to three months in jail or a fine of up to $2000 if they "intentionally and obscenely expose any part of his or her genitals" in or within view of any public place.

People can defend themselves against prosecution under this law by proving they had reasonable grounds for believing they would not be observed.

Mr McCleary said there were no official signs at Uretiti advising where people may be unclothed because nudity was an illegal act.

He suggested nudists should themselves put up a pole defining the area south of the camp where clothing was optional.

The beach's reputation for tolerance toward nudity began years ago when naturist members of the Motor Home Association started staying there.

Mr McCleary said naturists valued privacy and disliked exhibitionist behaviour around the camp.

Up to 800 people are expected to be at the Uretiti campground for New Year's Eve on Saturday.

There had been mayhem on New Year's Eve in the past, but security measures now in place should ensure campers could see in 2012 without disruption by alcohol-fuelled revellers wanting to party at the beach.

The public day area by the campground will be closed from 9pm on Friday and the main gates to the campground on State Highway 1 will be closed from noon on Saturday.

"It's easier to keep them [troublemakers] out than to get them out," Mr McCleary said.