Gisborne council votes to close Titirangi Maunga roads to vehicles overnight

Pedestrians and bikers will be the only people able to see the sun rise from Titirangi Maunga after Gisborne District councillors voted to impose an overnight road closure.

Local hapū Ngāti Oneone put forward the proposal in June because of concerns about vandalism, antisocial behaviour and illegal dumping at the site.

Gates will restrict vehicle access to Titirangi Drive and Queens Drive over Titirangi Maunga from 10pm to 6am year-round.

Emergency services will be provided with keys to access during those hours.

Exceptions will be made for specific events, such as Fire in the Sky on New Year's Day, to allow the community to use the hill as a vantage point.

Gate installation was estimated to cost between $6000 and $10,000. Management of the closure would be part of an existing park closure contract with landscaping service Green by Nature.

Gisborne District Council's Environment and Communities Committee received public consultation results on Thursday, which informed the staff-recommended closure.

Consultation asked the public to choose between closures from 10pm to 6am or until 5am year-round, seasonally adjusted opening hours or unrestricted access.

There were more than 190 submissions, with 187 expressing a preferred option.

Of those, 74.5% supported closure, with the 10pm to 6am closure receiving the most support at 38%.

Principal community assets and partnerships adviser Chris Visser said walkers from the Titirangi challenge supported a later opening time so they could participate without vehicles on the road.

Some submitters asked why a closure aimed at addressing illegal dumping was proposed and whether council would consider closures at other hotspots.

"This proposal is a very definite proposal to deal with a specific set of issues in a specific place that is of high significance to Ngāti Oneone. So we are not proposing that this is a mechanism by which council would control and mitigate or attempt to eliminate illegal dumping across our district," Visser said.

Councillor Sam Gibson objected to the recommended closure, stating that while the proposal supported mana whenua, he felt alternative options were not thoroughly explored.

"I don't think it's a great solution, and I don't think that we consulted with our ratepayer base on really significant alternative solutions. I don't feel like we've investigated additional solutions to this issue that allow our public the freedom to enjoy such a beautiful maunga, whether they be people that don't have the ability to ride or walk."

Councillor Rob Telfer was concerned the closure would not fix the dumping problem.

"I'm just wondering, should we be punishing everybody for the few that are causing the problem when we can put camera technology that is around now and actually catch these people."

Reporting offenders to police would take action against the problem rather than indirectly relocating it, he said.

"They'll go out here and dump rubbish, or they'll go find somewhere else to go and do it. So unless you actually address the problem, I don't see that this is actually fixing anything in the long term."

Some submissions shared those concerns, but the majority supported closure to protect the recreational and cultural value of the maunga, Visser said.

"I suppose the question for you is: do you choose not to attempt to fix this problem in this place because of the values of this place or just leave it as it is because it's just a much larger problem."

Councillor Larry Foster said he supported the paper, having seen the damage firsthand.

"Hopefully this will help mitigate a lot of that, and people can still access it by bike or by walking any time of the night or day even if the gates are closed."

He expressed concern about the impact of the closure on watching the sunrise, but appreciated its flexibility based on event activity.

Councillors Colin Alder, Teddy Thompson, Telfer and Gibson voted against the recommendation, but it passed with the other five councillors' support.

The restriction will begin in early 2027 and will be reviewed for effectiveness in 2029.