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Upset Maraetai residents were at the beach yesterday, protesting against a concrete path being laid on the shore - after they voted against it.
A group of local people gathered at Maraetai Beach holding signs reading 'Maraetai not Mission Bay' and calling for a stop on further work to be done to lay the pathway - which began last week.
The approximately 200m pathway will run from Maraetai Park, cutting through the grass and up to nearby Beachlands Beach.
Maraetai resident Sue Lees says the community is upset that the decision was made to lay the path as there was a unanimous vote from residents against it two years ago.
"The beach - it's really natural. We don't want to see another Mission Bay - that's a lovely beach but it's a city beach with lights up.
"We should celebrate its natural beauty and not cover it up. You don't want to clone every beach in New Zealand do you," she said.
The pathway has been on the Clevedon Community Board and Manukau City Council's agenda since 2006, when a proposed walkway on the Maraetai beachfront was made.
A public consultation meeting saw residents vote against the pathway, instead suggesting one which ran behind nearby Maraetai Park, which would not be as noticeable.
Ms Lees said residents had not been consulted by the council since 2006 and that many in the community thought plans to put the pathway "at the back" of the beach were final.
"The council have made a call to have a concrete path put in at Maraetai Beach and we don't want it.
"We get a lot of graffiti down here and the second you put a concrete slab down, the more of that we'll get."
Group manager of Manukau parks Digby Whyte acknowledged that residents had not been consulted since 2006, but says the walkway will be a more suitable option for beachgoers.
"If you go to the park now, you'll see that people already walk in the area where the pathway will go."
Mr Whyte says the walkway is part of a greater project looking to improve public access to nearby Omana Beach, Beachlands and Maraetai Beach.
He acknowledged that having a pathway through the park meant young children may find it hard to judge when to cross the pathway to go to the water, as bicycles and running pedestrians may be a hazard.
"Ideally you want to manage people gently there," Mr Whyte said.
Workmen have already dug out where the path will go, with the concrete set to be poured tomorrow.
Ms Lees said: "Our first aim is to stop them doing this and our second aim is to delay having the path put in, but talking and discussing the matter again."
