Idiot/Savant at No Right Turn pings TV3.
So, in fact this has nothing to do with the foreshore, except for the possibility of a future claim. The dispute is actually over access to the beach across private land. This is a thorny issue in itself – one which saw the Labour government try and force public access, and then when faced with massive opposition from property owners (chiefly farmers), establish the Walking Access Commission to negotiate for it. But even that access applies only to people on foot. It does not apply to commercial operators with vehicles.
Thing is, he’s 100% right. TV3 portrayed a beach access issue as a foreshore issue, and it most emphatically wasn’t.
Now, had they focused on what the story was really about they might have had something. It seems to me that the trust is trying to use their position as gate-holder to the beach to extort money out of commercial businesses, rather than coming to a mutually beneficial arrangement. TV3 could also have asked why they tried to illegailly confiscate (i.e. hijack) a private vehicle. But since these issues weren’t explored (probably because business operators don’t get much sympathy in the public eye) we just don’t know.
Written by scrubone
Comments Off