Manawatū horse riders bristle at exclusion from proposed shared path

Manawatū horse riders are bristling at being denied access to a proposed shared pathway – and being saddled instead with continuing to share a road with sometimes frightening motorists.

By Demelza Leslie

The proposed 30km City to Sea Rail Trail will begin in Longburn and go out towards the coast at Himatangi and Foxton. But a 6km stretch running along State Highway 56 at Longburn, controlled by the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi, is in dispute.

The trail, which will repurpose the old Foxton Railway corridor, is getting primed for construction – but permission for the project was granted by Waka Kotahi on the condition horse riders were excluded.

In an email to the City to Sea Rail Trail Committee, the transport agency said: "With regards to the query about restricting equestrian usage of the Shared User Path, it is considered appropriate to base the decision to restrict access to the Shared User Path on safety grounds, consistent with the background statement of the Shared User Path Licence to Occupy, which provides that 'NZTA exercises its functions in a way that contributes to an effective, efficient, and safe land transport system in the public interest'. This also reflects the need to maintain network efficiency and minimise the potential for conflict between different user groups."

NZ Equestrian Advocacy Network spokesperson Arthur Yeo said the decision was difficult to justify when NZTA already permits horse riders on other shared-use pathways around New Zealand, such as along SH1 in Hamilton and the Kapiti Coast Expressway.

"It is discriminatory and is holding the cyclists and the walkers and the other road users or trail users to ransom, really, because as a rural environment they want to include every form of recreational activity,” he said.

Yeo said they are regularly engaging with NZTA, seeking "proof" of the safety concerns cited by the agency to restrict access.

The decision comes at a time when riders are reporting an increase in abuse from motorists.

Manawatū rider Lynne Moore said incidents and close calls with vehicles passing too close and fast and frightening the horses were on the rise.

She said riders were often abused by drivers for being on the road at all.

A recent video filmed in the Wairarapa showed a man speeding past two riders on a grass berm and taking exception to being asked to slow down. He stopped his car, then reversed it in the middle of the road, before getting out to tell the riders he was "sick of people telling me how fast to drive my car".

Moore said she tried to avoid riding on the road after she was attacked by a ute driver.

"He slowed down and he looked like he was going to be, you know, a nice person and pass quietly and that was great. And I was about to say thanks very much. When he tooted and flashed his lights, deliberately startled the horse and thought it was hysterical."

She called for equestrians to be allowed access to the proposed pathway, adding that the old railway corridor has been a horse-riding route "since the road went in".

NZTA confirmed it was working closely with the City to Sea Trail Committee to bring the project to life.

In a statement to 1News, NZTA said it believed its Licence to Occupy agreement "does not ban or restrict use by horse riders".

However, a spokesperson was unable to explain the discrepancy between the City to Sea Rail Trail Committee email and the statement.

Yeo said horse riders could freely share the path with other users.

"We've got a lot of examples and proof of where we can coexist quite easily with the other recreational users."