Third of foreshore off-limits

By RUTH BERRY

The public has no right to stroll along more than a third of New Zealand's beaches, and large chunks of the foreshore are already held in private ownership.

This is revealed in two reports prepared for the Government.

The reports debunk myths about the public's rights to enjoy the land next to most lakes, rivers and the sea which have triggered emotional reactions to the foreshore and seabed issue.

A land access reference report, to be delivered to Rural Affairs Minister Jim Sutton early next week, has found that more than 30 per cent of land adjoining bodies of water is in private ownership, and the coast is the least accessible.

It shows there is no such thing as an uninterrupted Queen's Chain - usually understood to be a 20m strip of public or reserved land - ringing New Zealand waterways.

Some private landowners allow people to walk on beaches, but there is no guaranteed access.

Land Information Minister John Tamihere said yesterday that work being done by his department showed New Zealand had 18,200km of coastline.

At this early stage, it was clear 7200km of the foreshore was in Crown ownership.

More was likely to be found to be Crown-owned, but a significant amount was privately owned and "not a lot appears to be in Maori title".

The foreshore is defined as the land between high and low tide.

A spokeswoman for Mr Sutton, whose report will also cover that issue, said private foreshore ownership was pronounced in areas such as the Marlborough Sounds, the Otago and Banks Peninsulas, Wairarapa and Coromandel.

The land access report will show that tensions between the rights of private property owners and public access rights have been growing for some time and transcend supposed divisions between Maori and Pakeha.

The Government is grappling with a Court of Appeal finding that iwi may be able to claim customary title to the foreshore and seabed.

It is also struggling to define "customary rights", but the work on documenting foreshore access is also part of the reason it has stalled clarifying its position.

It is also why it backed off from Attorney-General Margaret Wilson's initial assertion that the Government would legislate to assert Crown ownership of the foreshore and seabed.

Officials are investigating the legal implications - such as the effect on the rights of existing title holders - of any moves it takes.

It is understood senior colleagues believe Ms Wilson mishandled the announcement by underestimating the complexity of the issue, which is why Prime Minister Helen Clark has distanced herself from it.

The Government has promised to talk about protecting customary rights and public access, but has shied from the word "ownership".

National has been running a Beaches for All campaign, urging the Government to assert Crown ownership of the foreshore and seabed "so we can all continue to enjoy it".

National leader Bill English said yesterday that the party knew parts of the foreshore were privately owned and would not seek to expropriate those property rights.

Its position was that ownership should be vested in the Crown "where there's any doubt about ownership".

Mr Tamihere accused Mr English of misleading the public.

He said the Opposition leader had whipped up emotion and was now backtracking "disgracefully".

Former Waitangi Fisheries Commission chairman Sir Tipene O'Regan said iwi would not be happy if farmers and others were allowed to keep private title to the foreshore, but iwi were denied the right to seek it over customary land they already claimed to hold.

Sir Tipene said it would be unjust to "legislate against a Maori interest and not take comparable steps against Pakeha".

"It will certainly lead to Maori asking questions about a lesser standard of citizenship."

Sir Tipene said some politicians had demonstrated a "quite profound ignorance" of the issues involved.

"People are all assuming that this is about their barbecue-on-the-beach rights. This is a much more complex issue. It's about everyone's property rights."

Former National MP Eric Roy, a member of the group preparing the land access report, said it would upset many people's understandings of public access to waterways.

In January, announcing the formation of the land access group, Mr Sutton said "people have the impression that the Queen's Chain applies to all beaches and rivers and that simply isn't true".