Conflict over Erua Forest access

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 7, Issue 366, 11 December 1990, Page 1

Conflict over Erua Forest access

Conflict between hunters who want vehicle access to Erua State Forest and a landowner who has a gate across a council road has been put to the Ruapehu District Council to solve.

A petition was received by the Waimarino Community Board last week calling for the gate, across Mangaturuturu East Road near the property of David Griffiths, to be removed. The council decided the gate could remain but must not be locked, which follows council policy on such gates. (see separate story) The petitioners' second concern was their claim that Mr Griffiths may seek to have the road legally closed "and when objections are

called the advertisements may appear in the 'Southland Times1". Mr Griffiths provided a submission to the council for consideration with the petition, saying the legal road past the gate was not the same as the actual road. He said the road is a farm track which is on his property and that it deviates from the line of the legal road. "The purpose of locking this gate (for the past 14 years) has been to prevent vehicles us-

ing my farm track and has never been to deny access to Erua Forest," said Mr Griffiths in his submission. He said he has had the paper road surveyed to show its physical position. He said if he shifted the gate 30 metres from its present position on his farm track it would be off the paper road. "I acknowledge that in a strictly technical sense I cannot lock it," he said. But he said better foot access can be obtained 220 metres from the gate. Disgusted Mr Griffiths said in his submission that he was "disgusted with Turn page 2

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From page 1 council's attitude" through the dispute and said he had never been approached by any council officer. He said he believed the petition to be "both malicious and frivolous. "During the last six months I have been subjected to personal abuse, trespass and willful damage and cannot act in law because the individual involved claims in defence that he has been advised by council that he can use the road," said Mr Griffiths. He said he believed council could be subject to litigation over the matter. Council general manager Cliff Houston told the meeting it was not up to council to advise people of where the legal road was. The meeting heard that Mr Griffiths had been advised that if he did not want people to use his track he has the option of fencing the legal road. Financial gain Petitioner Alan Snowball told the council he believed Mr Griffiths was blocking access for

his own financial gain, saying Mr Griffiths was shooting deer in the forest. "He's driving right into the forest while we've got to walk," said Mr Snowball. He said he had cut locks off the gate having had police permission to do so and that he found a seven wire fence across the legal road which he cut down. Mr Houston said he did not think there was a case for removing the gate but that there was for ensuring Mr Griffiths complied with council policy on such gates, which includes that they not be locked and that they display a sign saying "public road". Mr Snowball told the Bulletin that the paper road where it deviated from the formed track was passable by four wheel drive vehicle. He said a reason for putting forward his petition was that he was concerned that many such roads were slowly being cut off, denying access to hunters to such forest areas. He said he was Turnpage 3

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From page 2 concerned for future generations of hunters. Mr Griffiths described the paper road where it deviated from the track as having "a line of nature lawsoniana trees down its centre" for 200 metres, with the balance as pasture and windrows which was bush when he bought the property. He said the Department of Conservation had stopped vehicle ac-

cess to the forest at the point 220 metres from the gate and that since then the "result has been an obsession by one person to obtain vehicle access to the forest by using the farm track formed by myself at great expense, and solely for the purpose of providing all weather access to a large portion of my property, in the pretence that the farm track is the paper road."