By Marty Sharpe of 
Boulders put on a road crossing private land at Waimārama, near Hastings Photo: Stuff / Supplied
Boulders that have appeared on a popular road in Hawke's Bay are there to stay, says the man who put them there.
Eru Smith put the boulders across the Domain Reserve Rd this week.
The sealed road crosses privately-owned land that has been in Smith's family for generations.
He said his whānau had never received any payment for the use of the land and he's "been in dispute with the [Hastings District] council about this for at least 30 years".
"We own that land. Legally we can do what we've done. I've been fighting for 30 years to try and get the council to back-pay us for the use of our land and to then lease that bit of road off us. The road was put in illegally. I don't know when they put the road there, but it was well before the 60s. And it wasn't done with the owners' consent," Smith said.
The road crosses privately-owned land, which includes the Waimārama Holiday Park.
Smith, whose family owns the 3.9 hectare block of land that includes the Waimārama Holiday Park, said discussions with the council about payment had been fruitless.
He said he had asked the council for $200,000 in back-pay and $8000 a year to lease the road.
"They charge us $7500 in rates a year for the holiday park, so I thought I'd square it up, so we weren't paying much," Smith said.
But things had reached the point where Smith said he wasn't going to remove the boulders for any price.
"The police came to see me today [Wednesday] and said it was a safety issue. I said it wasn't my problem. If people get issues on our land we're liable, nobody else," he said.
"I'm 71 years old. I've lived here all my life. I'm not fighting the council over this for another 30 years. They've had their chance. I'm not going to move them. That's what I told the police," Smith said.
A council spokeswoman said the rocks were blocking access to the public domain, which people could access through the entrances at Harper and Moori roads.
"The sealed drive through the reserve is not legally speaking a road. People have used it for many years at the pleasure of the landowners whose section runs from Harper Road to the beach. They are now exercising their private property rights," she said.
"People are not required to put up private property signs, but to clarify for visitors council is assisting with the installation of a sign to advise this accessway is currently closed," she said.
Smith said his action was un-related to another lot of boulders that had been erected over a beach access road in the settlement by Ngāti Kahungunu chairman Bayden Barber, who lives there. Barber had put the rocks across the end of Tiakitai Rd due to concerns over dangerous driving along the beach.
The spokeswoman said the council "has not taken a position on vehicle access to the beach being blocked off, nor made any decisions on this," and was "currently seeking to obtain the range of perspectives from the community in regards to vehicles on the beach" before making a decision on what to do.
This story was originally published on Stuff
