A Pleasant Walk in the Countryside - But Not in New Zealand

We live on a narrow, winding rural road with a 100km/h speed limit.  There are no footpaths, not even a gravel shoulder, just steep sided ditches next to the white line.  It is very typical of many rural roads in New Zealand and makes absolutely no provision for cyclists, walkers, horse riders etc.

If we were to go back thirty or forty years, the situation would have been quite different.  Our road would have been unsealed, potholed, with poor sightlines and wandering stock just around the corner.  The result (completely unintentional) would have been much slower vehicle speeds and as a consequence a much more pedestrian, cyclist and horse rider friendly environment.  This is still evident in less populated areas of the country - kids riding bikes and horses, people walking on the road.  So the current situation is a relatively new phenomenon.

Over the years our road has been improved; the humps and bumps taken out, corners smoothed, and the biggest change, the road was asphalted.  This has undoubtedly been very good for journey times, the economy, dust suppression.  It is arguable whether the improvements have resulted in real accident reduction though.  Cars have become safer regardless, but physics has not changed and the faster you go the bigger the mess as the ad says. 

But there are the other drawbacks mentioned above.  If you want to go for a walk or a run, visit the local store or get your kids safely to school the only option is to first get in a vehicle and drive - or is it?

A quick look at the government's Walking Access Commission website reveals that we are surrounded by public pathways, off the main roads and often connecting two otherwise un-passable dead end roads.  These are of course 'paper roads', originally drawn up by the government but never built by the local council.

Walking Access NZ map extract showing public land in purple

Unfortunately though, the local council does not see any value in signposting these routes, and in most instances the adjoining land owner has assumed possession of the public 'road', built fences and in some instances buildings on what is actually owned by all of us.

Ironically, in the United Kingdom, a country which many of our ancestors left to escape the class system and oppressive land owners the situation is very different.  Footpaths and public bridleways criss cross the countryside.

Photo by Adrian S Pye

Wikipedia

In most instances these are just marked trails, requiring very little investment or upkeep by the council and still providing amenity to farmers to be able to move stock around, if suitably fenced off.

A nice idea for New Zealand perhaps.