St Leonards Beach
Around Auckland there are a number of beaches used by
skinny-dippers. One of the most popular has been St Leonards, on the North Shore. But that
council introduced a by-law which states that you must not 'expose your pubic
area to other persons' if you are 12 or older.
Since its introduction in 1992, no one has been prosecuted, and until about 2001 things had carried on much
as usual. In February 2003, though, the council tried having a 'crackdown' which led, in November 2003, to
an agreement brokered by the police. The agreement effectively defines the terms: "other persons"
to mean 'dressed persons passing by (not sitting or lying)' and "expose" to mean 'staying further
than 50m from the access steps' and 'not getting closer than 30m in front of any dressed person who's passing'. (An information card about this is available for beach-goers.)
The beach is between Devonport and Takapuna on the North Shore. This is a classic example
of a good beach where no one bothered to inform those behaving badly that they were, and require they
stop or they'd have the police do it for them! So the complaints rose and the usage declined...
Looking south along St Leonards Beach in its heyday
However, the council now has a policy of accepting "reasonable compliance"
rather than "having
to take enforcement action;" so genuine Naturists can reasonably expect to be able to continue using
this beach if they observe the police-brokered rules.
The view from the water