Abel Tasman beach campaign closes

Pledges to the Givealittle page raising money to buy an Abel Tasman beach have now closed.

The Givealittle page raised over $2 million to buy the beach on the Awaroa Inlet, with 39,249 people pledging money towards the purchase.

The money will be used to place an offer on the 7ha property, before the tender process closes tomorrow.

If the tender is accepted, the beach will be gifted to the Department of Conservation, or a suitable trust.

The organisers of the crowdfunding campaign went into "stealth mode" last week to prevent opposing bidders from knowing exactly how much money has been raised.

In the face of criticism by millionaire Gareth Morgan, who described their campaign as "naive", the Givealittle organisers consulted lawyers on Friday and discovered they were able to freeze the published total at $2 million, while keeping the pledges coming in until 3pm today.

Since the $2 million target was reached, only the increase in the number of people making pledges was revealed on the site. The final tally will be kept secret.