Trail a win for farmer and public

Farmer says trail on his farm gets rid of the stereotype that farmers do not want people on their land.

Farmers creating public access across their land can build awareness of what they do, strengthen relationships with the community and even boost farming productivity. That's according to Alistair Gibb, who recently established an easement and track to facilitate public access across his Wairarapa farm to a scenic section of the Ruamahanga River near Gladstone.

The trail idea was originally proposed to Gibb in 2013 by the Greater Wellington Regional Council.

The idea was to install a track across a section of Gibb's land to link nearby Carter's Reserve to the river and enhance the recreational value of the area.

River recreation and environmental enhancement is an objective of the Gladstone Upper Ruamahanga River Management Scheme, which is administered by the council. Gibb supported the idea, and a project to formalise the access, clear scrub and create a 500m publicly accessible track to the river was born.

The New Zealand Walking Access Commission supported the project by providing an $8000 Enhanced Access Fund grant to Sustainable Wairarapa, which was backing the project, to help fund the easement and development of the route on Gibb's land.

"I originally come from Scotland, in the UK, where England especially has a very good network of walkways and bridleways that provide a good way for people to gain controlled access to the countryside," Gibb said.

"This kind of access is a win-win for farmers and the public because it publicises what farmers do and gets rid of the stereotype that farmers just want people to get off their land. If we can develop more of these access routes across the country and link them all up in a national network it has to be good."

Gibb said he was pleased to see a "steady trickle" of people using the route, including anglers and those walking the 30-minute-long Carter's Reserve loop, which connects with the trail crossing his property.

"Mostly it is just people going for a pleasant walk to enjoy the river. I've had no issues at all at this stage and I don't foresee any."

The agreed route ensured people accessed the river in a controlled fashion and removed concerns over liability towards those accessing the land in an unmanaged way, he said. "I can just farm and not worry about it."

Greater Wellington Regional Council flood protection engineer David Boone said he had "nothing but good things to say" about Gibb and his support of the river access. He also credited the Department of Conservation (DoC) for its assistance clearing blackberry on the route and linking the Carter's Reserve loop trail to the new river access.

Boone said that although access on the route was now legally secure, it still required the backing of the community to help maintain it.

He welcomed any approach from a community group that was willing to take responsibility for ongoing maintenance, and suggested they contact the Department of Conservation's Masterton/Whakaoriori office on (06) 377 0700 if they wished to assist.