Plans to build a 6.5km walkway and cycleway through Papamoa's main coastal dunes have been opposed by the areas's sub-tribe, Nga Potiki.
The hapu's resource management unit manager Matire Duncan said the coastal area and its natural landscape were special, not just to Nga Potiki but other tribes. They had guardianship over the coastal dunes because of the dunes' historical associations for Maori, including Nga Potiki, Ngai Te Rangi and Te Arawa.
"There is nothing about this we like."
She said a lot of people died during the wars between Ngai Te Rangi and Rotorua's Te Arawa iwi and some were buried in the dunes. Earthworks and subdivisions over the past 30 years had uncovered human bones dating from the time of those conflicts.
Nga Potiki would be opposing the Papamoa Rotary Club project when the Tauranga City Council called for public submissions on its draft coastal reserves management plan.