After seven years of wrangling it appears farmers and recreational users have agreed to a code on access to the countryside and coastline.
The Walking Access Commission has released the final version of its guidelines on walking access in rural areas. Commission chair John Acland says the code sets out the responsibilities of both users and landowners, and all interested groups are on board.
The guidelines include a reminder that not all rivers, lakes, beaches and mountain lands have public access to, alongside or around them.
Areas which do allow public access are paper roads, margins around large bodies of water, walkways defined under the Walking Access Act and easements across public land.
The code is clear that there is no general right of public access across private land. If the land is fenced off and appears to be private, with no signs indicating access, then permission must be sought.
Federated Farmers vice-president, Donald Aubrey, says the organisation has designed signs that landowners can attach at the access points to their land.
He says the code is a step in the right direction in balancing the importance of public access to rural areas with farming practices.
Mr Aubrey says farmers have gone a step further by erecting signs at farm gates to better inform the public about their access rights.
The Outdoor Recreation Associations Council and Fish & Game New Zealand also approve of the code.
The commission says it is continuing its work on a mapping system that will outline the areas of legal public access.
Agriculture Minister David Carter says the creation of the commission in 2008 was a huge step towards mending the bad relationships that had developed in the earlier part of the walking access debate.
He says the commission must now make sure the goodwill that's been established is not undone.
The former government opted for a voluntary process after fierce opposition from farmers and other landowners to earlier plans to enforce walkers' access through legislation.