Kapiti Coast beaches going nude?

Good to see we live in a society that values freedom - the freedom of the conservative right (as expressed above by Fran and Simon) and the freedom of the liberal left (as expressed above by Robin, Edward and Steve). But how do we fulfil both of their dreams of freedom - the Conservative right will only feel free when they can go to any beach anywhere and be guarenteed to never see a naked body. The liberal left will only feel free when they can go to any beach anywhere and be naked. Of course these two ideas are mutually exclusive. So again it comes back to which group is more in touch with the majority views in our society (afterall, in a democratic society COMMUNITY means the sum total of everyone's morals). Sadly, perhaps Simon has it right (if somewhat one-sided). Lets measure the percentages of these two groups in our society. Let's say both groups represent 10% of society. Then we can have 10% of all beaches which are "Conservative right beaches" (where conservative right people can be monitored and avoided) and 10% of all beaches can be "Liberal left beaches" (where liberal left people can be monitered and avoided). The other 80% of us can just get on with our neighbours, be kiwis and accept that some want to sunbathe in their clothes and some want to sunbathe out of their clothes.

Making this beach clothes optional is the best thing that Kapiti can do. We need more places where those that prefer not to wear clothes are not forced to do so. I'll be there

its very funny.............

I think the council are right on the button on this one, with their shift to a "nature park" ??? even if they are now doing a backtrack. Paeroa's got a giant L&P bottle, Ohakune got a Big Carrot, so Kapiti should get a giant set of bronze boobies ;-) For goodness sake , the way people talk, you would think there are 2milion people targeting the same 50m of beach ??? have they never been to Bondi, Alexandria beach, or Europe ??? the beaches are CROWDED. We have 45km of beach ??? maybe people need to appreciate each others diversity, and GET ALONG Personally i think this is a cunning plan to host the next nude Olympics - what better way to win gold, being able to train on the official course - and wont cost 10m per medal either!

What about my freedom to take my kids to a beach without nudity? Why should I have to be submitted to nudity if I dont want it?

What about how it offends Christians, Muslims, Hindus.....

The only fair thing is to have seperate beaches. Then everyone is happy.

How very refreshing to see a country maturing enough to realise naturism is a growing trend for the future and just as in all human populations everywhere there will be a few bad guys & girls bringing the lifestyle into disrepute. Most places already have sufficient laws to deal with such characters so please do open up as much area as possible to enable our sheer joy of trying to feel as Adam and Eve did a few years back. It will make me think seriously of visiting your beautiful country to know I can do what I,e enjoyed for years all over the world as well as doing all the other touristy things. One other point that I,ve seen raised about parents fears. You notice it's parents fear of naked people. Do they ever actually ask there kids if they would be shocked? Can't ever remember seeing horror on any child's face just mirth followed by total indifference and as I said we have the laws in place to deal with troublemakers either in naturist or clothed areas.

There is already an area on the Peka Peka beach available for "nudies" I don't want to have to spoil our regular walks of this coast by averting children's & grandchildren's inquisitive eyes.

I frequently stay at Peka Peka Beach. It is our retreat from every day life. We also take our young grandchildren. We are avid bird watchers and the thought of spotting nude bodies on the beach is something I would not be happy with. I have no problems if they have a select area so that we can avoid it, but not free rein. I wouldn't feel free to take photographs and use my binnoculars in case I was accused of ulterior motives!

Fran is partly right: true freedom lies in good boundaries. But those boundaries should be about the way we behave towards each other (with respect, dignity and tolerance) - not about the way we are dressed or undressed. You may not like the look of my shirt or my skin, but that does not give you the right to tell me I can or can't wear either of them in public!

How does one define what constitutes the beach, could for instance the ice-cream van parked across the road be deemed as being part of the beach area. I feel that eating ice-cream, whilst naked, on the beach is not lewd, unless they (the naked) are eating said ice-cream in a provocative way?. However I would feel a little unsettled by the thought of queuing for ice-cream with naked people who had sprung from the sand on a hot day- do you get my point?