A frustrated iwi leader has hit out at speeding hoons who he says are using a popular Hawke's Bay beach as their "fun park" leaving locals distressed.
Leader of Hawke's Bay iwi Ngāti Kahungunu Bayden Barber has taken matters into his own hands and placed large stone barriers in front of an entrance at Waimārama Beach, east of Hastings, to try and block access.
He says the community is sick and tired of sand dunes being ripped up by irresponsible hoons and local tamariki being put at risk by unsafe driving.
And despite the council having nothing to do with the new blockade, Barber believes it was the right move.
"We are saying enough is enough. We need to keep our community safe, our kids safe and our environment safe, our sand dunes, etc. etc, so we've put those rocks there to persuade that type of behaviour," Barber told AM on Tuesday morning.
He said the entrance he's blocked is problematic because it's "out of sight, out of mind" but is only one of four accessways to the popular beach. He added it's the most common place hoons use to access the beach.
He told AM co-host Melissa Chan-Green Waimārama Beach isn't "huge and wide" and locals shouldn't be seeing eight four-by-four vehicles hooning along the beach at once.
"It's distressing for residents and often we have to go down there and call them out on that behaviour and that can be difficult as well," Barber said.
The behaviour at the beach has also seen tragic consequences with a person killed and another seriously injured after falling from a ute in October last year.
"We don't want that kind of thing happening out here. Since COVID-19 the number of vehicles have kind of escalated probably tenfold and people are kind of using it as their little fun park to bring four-wheel drives and those kind of vehicles out here," he said.
"We're just saying, if you want to do that go somewhere else, don't bring it to this beach."
The iwi has involved the council to try to sort out the issue but that has proven unsuccessful so far.
Barber admitted there are still a lot of responsible vehicle users who use the beach, but in his ideal world, he would like to see all vehicles banned from Waimārama Beach.
"We are saying there are more vehicles than there ever has been. We want to have a discussion about taking vehicles off the beach for good because if you allow one, if you allow certain purposes to do it, then how do you actually know who's doing what?
"Unfortunately, there are people coming, mainly from outside of the community and just using it as their little playground and we just have to put a stop to it."
A police spokesperson told Newshub staff continue to monitor and respond to calls regarding unsafe driving behaviour on Waimarama Beach.
"We continue to engage with motorists, educating, and where required issuing infringement notices," they said.
"We urge anyone driving on the beach comply with the 20km/h speed limit and only access areas where vehicles are permitted."
Police have an increased presence around Waimarama and other Hawke's Bay beaches over the summer period, they added.
Watch the full interview for more.
