Four-wheel drives could be banned from a Whangārei district beach at the centre of long-running user conflict under sweeping new council rules.
By Susan Botting for Local Democracy Reporting
The proposed ban, which would triple the number of vehicle exclusion zones along the Whangārei district's coastline, has drawn divided views from the community.
Whangārei District Council is proposing a vehicle ban at Bream Bay’s Uretiti South, from the Tip Rd beach access southwards to the Waipū River mouth wildlife refuge where species including one of the world’s rarest birds – the critically endangered fairy tern of which fewer than 40 remain – roost and nest.
The roughly five kilometre stretch of Whangārei’s last wilderness coastline has become a focal point for conflict between an increasing number of beachgoers, conservationists and growing number of four-wheel drives.
WDC bylaws strategic planner Will McNabb said one of the almost a dozen crashes attended by police on Whangārei district beaches in the five years to 2025 included a fatal motorcycle crash at Ōakura. Twenty people were involved in the crashes.
McNabb said the proposed new bylaw rules sought to balance a range of community interests.
"These included protecting the safety of beachgoers and the coastal environment while recognising vehicle beach access remained an important and valued activity for many people."
The council is also proposing new vehicle exclusion zones at Bland Bay, Ōakura, Woolleys Bay, Matapōuri and Whangaumu/Wellington's Bay as debate intensifies over beach access and safety.
Most of the these would still allow conditional access for boat launching and retrieval.
Vehicles displaying valid mobility parking permits and powered mobility devices would be exempt.
McNabb said vehicle access would be restricted in locations where it conflicted with the safety of other beach users, including parts of Bland Bay, Ōakura, Woolleys Bay, Matapōuri and Whangaumu/Wellington's Bay.
It would also be protected to help protect areas with significant ecological values including Uretiti South, Woolleys Bay and Matapōuri.
Heightened public interest and sharply divided views
McNabb said community interest in the 2026 bylaw review had far exceeded that seen during its previous 2016 review.
More than 1200 pieces of feedback were received over summer to help shape the new bylaw rules.
These showed the growing impact of vehicles on Whangārei district beaches and highlighted heightened public interest and sharply divided views.
McNabb said many submitters raised concerns about safety and the impacts of vehicles on coastal habitats, wildlife and dune ecosystems. Others strongly supported ongoing beach access for fishing, boating, recreation and access to remote coastal areas.
He said three-quarters of submitters who mentioned Uretiti or Ruakākā, drove or wanted to be able to drive on those beaches.
“In contrast almost two thirds of submitters wanted to see some form of vehicle restriction in place on the rest of Whangārei district beaches.”
One Waipu submitter who moved to the village from Auckland, specifically to be close to beach walking at Uretiti, said that was no longer happening due to being too scared of the number of vehicles on the beach.
Another submitter said wahi tapu at Bland Bay were being damaged by vehicles.
McNabb said vehicle use on district beaches had increased since the last bylaw review, alongside growth in four-wheel-drive ownership, population growth and visitor numbers.
Situation has become 'out of control'
Formal public consultation on the proposed bylaw opens on August 5 and closes on September 7. A hearing is scheduled for September 21, with the new rules expected to be in place by November.
The proposed Uretiti South ban has been welcomed by Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society Northern branch chairperson Bruce Bird.
He said the situation had become “out of control” and it was surprising nobody had been seriously hurt or injured.
However, Whangārei 4WD Drive Club president Adam Karl said his club opposed the proposed Uretiti South ban.
He said better enforcement of existing rules would address many perceived concerns without the need for additional vehicle bans.
Karl said a beach-access permit system, like that used at Muriwai, would be a better option for Uretiti South than a complete vehicle ban.
He said driving along the beach with family to go fishing in an isolated location was part of the Kiwi way of life.
“It is sad to see access to yet another part of New Zealand's wild places at risk of being shut down,” Karl said.
Whangārei’s Damon Gilberd said most vehicle users at Uretiti South were responsible people in their 30s to 50s, rather than young hoons going “rip, shit and bust”.
Bream Bay Coastal Care Trust member David Lourie said the proposed ban was “a stepping stone in the right direction”.
He said it would reduce the threat to three fairy terns he had seen at the wildlife refuge this week.
But Lourie said that while there had been a slight reduction in people driving into the already protected refuge, southern Uretiti vehicle access rules were often ignored, and that wouldn’t change significantly unless enforcement improved.
Fifty 4WD’s a day could be driving along the Uretiti South beach, he said.
Lourie said the WDC vehicle ban would add another layer of protection for the dunes behind the beach by removing the beach as an access option.
Off-roaders constantly drove through this area, destroying vegetation and dunes, he said.
More than 100 four-wheel drives camped in the dunes over long weekends, sometimes for days at a time.
- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
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