Sandcastle building competition at Waitarere Beach this weekend

Angelina Smith is hoping a sandcastle competition planned for Waitarere Beach will grow into a huge annual event.

Probably the best beach in the world for building sandcastles holds a competition this weekend.

Kiwi Conservation Club co-ordinator Angelina Smith said the sands of Waitarere Beach were crying out to be moulded and shaped into works of art, and she hoped families would get involved.

Mrs Smith said the sandcastle competition was a good way to raise awareness of Sea Week, a nationwide promotion running this week.

"The beach is crying out for it...it hasn't been done in this area for a while," she said.

"We've had lots of positive feedback. We're hoping it will turn into a really big thing. It's a really good family event," she said.

"We just hope people turn up."

There were rules around the sandcastle competition to keep participants safe. No metal shovels for fear of lost digits, and all materials used in a sculpture had to be sourced from the beach.

The competition starts at 10am in a cordoned-off area of the beach.

Last year a clean-up was organised as part of Sea Week that took away 300kg of rubbish from the beach over a weekend.

"It was amazing the amount of rubbish that stretched right down to the (Manawatū) river mouth," she said.

The Waitarere Beach ratepayers association picked up the reins since and were brilliant in running monthly clean-ups, she said.