Paper Roads; Public Access; Walking Access - A Discussion...

[Brent George]

From RNZ National "Insight".

A good general discussion about the issues, tensions and realities between landowners and the public when it comes to access over paper roads and public rights of access over unformed legal roads.

Claims of public access privatised by stealth - RNZ 24-Jan-2016 (Podcast - 27mins)

Of course there are also many other factors:

- common courtesy with regard to accessing these areas - seeking permission; taking due care to leave gates as found; not disturbing stock etc. 

- unformed paper roads that have never been surveyed and so are defined by indicative alignments on old topo plans;

- subsequent transfer of these lines into modern digital databases (LandonLine) to quasi-define their spatial location;

- tracks formed by landowners near paper roads that are mistaken for legal roads;

- farm access tracks that look like roads being presumed to be roads by the layman; 

- etc etc

[Brent George]

'Same as SH1' campaign re-launched for unformed legal roads
Stuff - Timaru Herald - 3-Jan-2022

A campaign to raise public awareness of the status of New Zealand’s 56,000 kilometres of legal unformed roads has returned with an interest group looking to mark down some tracks.

Federated Mountain Clubs wheeled out its “same as State Highway 1” campaign for the holiday season, with president Jan Finlayson saying she was aware the status of such roads had been “fraught”.

[Mark Geddes]

Another case of a disputed road shown in today's Otago Daily Times.....this long running issue in South Otago is still unresolved.  Is it a lack of understanding of implied dedication or a lack of process and documentary evidence from many years ago?

[Brent George]

I couldn't help searching the location to see the legal road versus formation versus property boundaries.
I see the situation...