Resident Mike Ward said Coopers Beach and Cable Bay were small beaches that were packed with people in summer.
Taking a car on to either beach was ridiculous and "like driving around on a playground".
Cars were now prevented from driving on to Coopers Beach by bollards which could be removed in an emergency. It meant boaties, including himself, could no longer launch there, but the actions of some drivers meant there was no alternative.
Before the bollards were installed a mother had to call 111 when a car was performing wheelies close to her young family.
The proposed vehicle ban is supported by Te Kenana Marae, whose trustees are concerned about beach-goer safety and the effect of cars on kai moana.
Meanwhile, signs setting a 30km/h limit and spelling out rules for driver behaviour are to be installed on the busiest section of Ninety Mile Beach, where residents have been complaining for years about hoons endangering beach-goers and shore birds.
The speed limits, which will apply to the areas 300m either side of the Kaka St and Foreshore Rd access points, are intended as an interim measure until a new governance board takes over management of the beach.
Signs are already in place at Kaka St; Foreshore Rd is expected to follow this month. Councillors also agreed to produce driver information brochures in consultation with Te Hiku iwi but decided against beach wardens or community patrols. Council staff have asked Kaitaia police about patrolling the beach in summer, particularly in the three weeks from Boxing Day onwards.
A start date has yet to be set for Te Oneroa a Tohe Statutory Board which will place the beach under joint management of iwi, councils and the Department of Conservation. The board, and the beach's new dual name, is part of a Treaty settlement with four of the five Te Hiku iwi which started making its way through Parliament this week.