Jonathan Milne: Walking on our beaches is not a birthright – it's a unique privilege

Saturday, 29 December 2018

The family of one-year-old Bowen Fredericks were enjoying the hot weather at Whangamata this weekend.

OPINION: California, Nevada, Arizona. Tennessee to Arkansas in a Ford Mustang, Alabama, and across the crisply autumnal Smoky Mountains with the top down.

It was the road-trip of a lifetime, but by the time we hit South Carolina – well, my wife and I could pretty much smell the sea. I'd grown up a 10 minutes walk from the Petone Esplanade; I missed the coastline.

Jonathan Milne: Across the autumnal Smoky Mountains with the top down, as snow melted by the sides of the road.

As we drove from Charleston, down Route 95 to Savannah, I was looking for a glimpse of the beach – but there was none. Every side road ended in a electric gate, a security booth, the sight of distant mansions whose privileged residents owned the access to the Atlantic Ocean.

None of us want that for New Zealand. We regard it as a birthright to run down the beach into the saltwater.

Locals are looking for ways to limit the impact of visitors to beauty spots like the Coromandel's Whenuakura Island, otherwise known as Donut Island.

* Abuse of pristine Donut Island sparks fears it may be shut

Ronald Justin (left) and Joshua Fredericks, from Hamilton, are up in the Coromandel for the holidays.

Thousands of people flocked to the beach at Whangamata to enjoy the hot weather and warm water.

An Aucklander lap ups the summer sun in Mission Bay during the New Year break.

Tayla Hay from Auckland enjoy a game of beach cricket in Whangamata, this weekend.

* Alison Mau: A survival guide to staying sane in the heat

* Jonathan Milne: We must not relinquish access to NZ's jewels

* Get out of town! But make sure we don't spoil the countryside**

But those who care for our beaches worry whether it's sustainable. The Department of Conservation has hired more rangers to talk with tourists, from here and overseas, and they are patrolling social media to fend off crowds descending on vulnerable conservation sites.

Locals are looking for ways to limit the impact of visitors to beauty spots like the Coromandel's Donut Island; Ngāti Whātua and the Auckland Council have placed a rāhui on paths through the Waitākere ranges to protect the ancient kauri from dieback disease. Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage has even provoked a United Nations complaint of discrimination by imposing higher hut fees for overseas tourists on iconic tracks like the Abel Tasman and the Routeburn.

We are torn, as a nation. How much can we enjoy New Zealand's lakes and mountains and seas with our children, without damaging them for our grandchildren?

Targeting overseas tourists is part of the answer – but more importantly, we have to take responsibility ourselves for how we treat the most beautiful parts of this country.

As we walk unimpeded into the warm sand this summer, remember, it's not a birthright. It's a unique privilege.