KIWI RIDER JANUARY 2021 VOL1 | Page 107

MURIWAI OFF LIMITS ( FOR NOW )

A uckland Council has announced that one of the city ’ s most popular multi-use beaches will closed to vehicles over the busiest weeks of the summer . Muriwai Beach will be closed to vehicle access between December 23 , 2020 and January 10 , 2021 . Visitors to the beach on Auckland ’ s west coast will still be able to park at all of the regional park car parks and access points and walk onto the beach on foot , however , vehicles will be blocked from accessing the beach . It will be the first time the beach will be closed to vehicles with formal accessways to the beach closed at Coast Road , Rimmer Road and Wilson Road . Tasman Road remains closed under normal seasonal restrictions . As you might expect , the vehicle ban appears to be a result of a number of beachgoers behaving badly and ruining the fun for everyone . For the past five years , drivers have needed to obtain a permit to drive on Muriwai ( and any other Auckland beaches frequently used by vehicles ) which lays out expectations and rules for driving on the beach . According to the Auckland Council , in the 12 months up to June 2020 , 2715 people had applied for and obtained a permit to drive a vehicle on Muriwai Beach . This is estimated to be less than 50 per cent of the actual number of vehicles that drive on the beach . The short summer ban on vehicles at Muriwai Beach lifts on January 10 , 2021 , and we wonder if this temporary ban will become annual . Time will tell .

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