Mt Fyffe closure - legality ?

My understanding is any closure has no legal standing BUT considering the earthquake and the resulting damage not far away that we know about do you really want to push the issue. To put it another way. If you survive they wont prosecute you. Dont be expecting SAR to come to the rescue either

I think its different when theres been a major geological event. they may well be able to declare an area unsafe and I think that may well be illegal, there are circumstances where it definitely is illegal and i think there are big potential fines that can be given...

Which makes me ask where does the legal basis for the earthquake closures sit? In what act? All those people not allowed inside cordons, into their homes or offices? Presumablyou Doc _could_ call on the same act to close facilities/tracks. Though I doubt they've bothered with the legalities...

I don't know Mt Fyffe, but the LINZ Primary Parcel Database, if I've understood correctly, seems to indicate that land south-east of the ridge is Fee Simple Title land (I'm not sure who owns it -- it might have been exchanged and become Stewardship Land but I'm unsure). Land on the north-west side of the ridge is held under S62 of the Conservation Act, which states it's to be managed as if it's Stewardship Land. Areas of Stewardship Land, as well as Conservation/Forest Parks and other land held under the Conservation Act, can legally have access restricted under Section 13 of that Act. Section 13 allows "public safety or emergency" as a reason for closing access. As long as it's closed, the Director-General is required to take all reasonable steps to keep the public informed of both the closure AND the reasons for it. Section 39(1)(a) of the Conservation Act specifically makes it an Offence to enter land that's been closed in this way, and under section 44 you could theoretically get up to 1 year jail or a $100,000 fine, plus $10,000 for every day on which the offence continues. (It probably wouldn't be that much.) The law says the Minister has to do it, but then it also says the Minister can delegate the ability. I asked several years ago if it was delegated, and was told it'd been delegated to the Director-General who'd in-turn delegated it to area managers, or something similar. The other two major types of land are Reserves under the Reserves Act, and National Parks under the National Parks Act. Reserves vary depending on the type of reserve, but generally can be closed. The main variation seems to be whether they're closed access by default, or open access by default. National Parks are much harder to close, but it's possible. Most commonly, the Minister's allowed to make a bylaw under section 56(1)(c) which enables excluding the public from any specified part of the park. It has to be consistent with the park's management plan. Unless something's changed recently, I think the only National Parks which presently have bylaws in place that let DOC do this are Abel Tasman and Kahurangi, neither of which seems to have anything in its management plan relating to how or why any access should ever be restricted. I don't think major geological events allow any specific flexibility in this, but if the government thought it critically important enough then I'm sure the Minister could rapidly make a bylaw or get Parliament to change the law. Keep in mind that when Te Maari Crater was busy burping and destroying Ketetahi Hut and bits of the Tongariro Crossing, DOC never attempted to say access to the area was closed. It merely drew a couple of circles on a map and strongly advised that people shouldn't go there. I'm not totally sure about building and street restrictions, but that stuff could easily be covered under something like the Building Act and/or councils' legal abilities to generally close access to streets.

Thanks all. Looks like it's legally a no-go for now. Shame. Inland road opens for public access 19/12/16 and it's not yet busy with holidayers. Weather forecast is good & the track is no harder than any Canterbury foothill. Would be interesting to see if things have changed. Not to mention the view over the peninsula. http://www.backpackerguide.nz/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Pxxcb3c.jpg @geeves Internal mail still not working for me, but, damn straight I want to have a wander. Point taken, but my weighted decision is to get into it.

Does anyone know wither Patutu is closed?

So glad you asked. Not sure how far north you can drive from Kaikoura ?. Might be able to let you know Tuesday. And, thanks for the page on the NZ Tramper website. Look ! I walk anyway. http://i49.tinypic.com/343q3iq.jpg

I think you can get to about Mangamunu going north. Road is closed for south bound traffic at Clarence, but believe the road is passable to at least Okiwi Bay, if not the big slip at Ohau Point

That's Mangamaunu.