Up in Waipū in Northland the community is talking about vehicles on beaches. They have issues like those at Waikawa Beach: on the one hand a desire to protect bird life and concern about damage to the reserves and sand dunes – needed as a protection against sea level rise and climate change. On the other the vehicle access is important for people with disabilities and mobility issues, who can have improved mental health just by driving along the beach, and also the vehicle access is often used by people fishing – who would struggle to carry all their fishing gear down the beach.
A small Northland community is divided over whether vehicles should continue to drive on a beach increasingly popular with four-wheel-drivers from as far afield as Auckland.
The access at Tip Rd in Waipū gives unrestricted access to the beach, allowing people to drive to kilometres of white, sandy beach for fishing and recreation.
But the site is also used by some to illegally drive through the nearby Waipū Wildlife Reserve, one of just four sites where the critically endangered fairy tern nests, among other rare birds.
The Waipū Residents and Ratepayers Association has been running consultation on the issue
Department of Conservation have weighed in:
DOC is investigating the issues around vehicle access but it is a complex matter with many different groups involved … “We see benefit in protecting areas where biodiversity is at greatest risk from vehicles.”
Listen to an ~8 minute interview about this on RadioNZ — start at 15 minutes in on the recording.
