KEY POINTS:
People ignoring warning signs at a West Auckland beach were putting themselves in unnecessary danger, an Auckland Regional Council official has said.
A steep staircase at the southern end of Muriwai Beach was damaged during stormy weather last August.
Part of the staircase was swept away as a result and a "Danger: No access" warning sign was erected at the bottom of the stairs, with an alternative route shown.
But people were continuing to ignore the warnings - ducking under security barriers and trekking up the damaged stairs - and putting themselves in a potentially dangerous situation, ARC group manager for park operations Mace Wardsaid.
"There are signs up and there are alternative routes. But we're aware that people are still going up - they shouldn't be. Nobody's fallen off yet but [walking up there] is not to be recommended," he said.
Mr Ward acknowledged that the staircase - a direct route to the gannet colony at Muriwai - had been there for a number of years and that restoration was due.
Work to fix the staircase was set to begin before Christmas, but the lack of resources saw those plans deferred.
Restoration of the staircase has now been programmed and is expected to be completed in the next few months.
However, Mr Ward says environmental factors such as landscape changes, stormy weather, high tides, as well as engineering issues had to be taken into account when plans to restore the staircase were initially made.
Mr Ward said any of those environmental factors had the potential to damage the new set of stairs once built, so a second, safer route would also be heavily promoted to beach visitors.
"We recognise it's important access for people - especially with the gannets there. But there's quite a lot of erosion at Muriwai," he said.
"We just ask people to be safe - not just being water safe, but also around the coastline."
