Dave Denny, a keen fisherman in his mid-60s, said yesterday he had been unable to get to a picnic area on the edge of Lake Mahinerangi during the week since City Forests erected a gate and locked it about a decade ago. The gate was about 4km from the picnic area, too far for him to walk, he said.
City Forests, a Dunedin city Council-owned company, issues keys and permits for weekend use of its forests, but Mr Denny said he wanted to fish at the picnic area during the week "when there is no-one else around".
Despite asking regularly for access, most recently on Tuesday this week, City Forests would not budge, he said.
"I find that disturbing. They are eroding a right of access myself and others once had. They exclude [ratepayers] and they are our employees."
The picnic area is also accessible by boat but Mr Denny said he did not own a boat and did not plan to buy one.
City Forests chief executive Grant Dodson confirmed he had spoken to Mr Denny on Tuesday and the two had not been able to reach an agreement.
City Forests welcomed public access and regularly issued weekend permits and gate keys to people, including mountain bikers, trampers, motorcyclists and hunters, throughout its 20,000ha of forests. But no recreational access was allowed during the week.
"There has to be a balance between recreational use and running a commercial forest ... We need to control our forests. They are work sites after all."
The gate to the picnic area had been installed after vandalism which had included a person or people attaching a chain around a toilet block and pulling it off its foundations, Mr Dodson said.
He likened the forests to other city council-owned public assets, such as the Dunedin Town Hall, which were not open all the time.
"Virtually every public asset is protected in some way with a lock and key. Our forests are no different."
