Rodney Beaches
Rodney Beaches with special rules are:
Algies, Hatfields, Martins Bay, Omaha, Orewa, and Snells Beach
The special rules are:
(a) horses must only be ridden, or led, along the beach between the times of mid and low tide, and must be ridden, or led, along the beach below the high tide mark;
(b) between 1 December and 15 February (including weekends), horses are only allowed before 10:00am, and after 7:00pm; and
(c) horses are prohibited at Easter weekend (Friday to Monday inclusive) and Labour weekend (Saturday to Monday inclusive).
Prior to Sept 2015, Rodney District had a legacy bylaw that effectively prohibited riders from ALL beaches; a contentious permit system was used to control riders. The introduction of the new Auckland Public Places bylaw has allowed riders to access all beaches in the Auckland Region, but there are still some restrictions on some beaches - especially the Rodney eastern beaches.
If people do not abide by this new bylaw we can easily lose these hard fought for freedoms. see this Facebook group for details of the recent fight for more reasonable permit conditions
Regional Parks have their own rules, and are not covered by the beach bylaw.
The general bylaw applies to all other beaches.
General Bylaw Rules
3.2 Horses in a Public Place Control - General conditions
(1) In a public place the owner of a horse–
(a) must remove or safely dispose of any horse manure that is deposited in a public place;
(b) must show due consideration for other public place users at all times;
(c) must, when on a beach, ride or lead their horse in a manner that does not intimidate, cause a danger or nuisance to other beach users; and
(d) must not ride or lead their horse on coastal dunes except when accessing the beach, an adjoining property or road in a manner that does not cause, nor is likely to cause, damage to any part of that dune, and that utilises the most direct route possible.
Auckland Council have published this helpful brochure
click to read or download >
