Covid 19 coronavirus: Parked cars take over footpaths at Muriwai

Cars took over some of the footpaths in Muriwai this morning. Photo / Richard Pamatatau

As a stream of people continues to head to popular Muriwai Beach "inconsiderate" parking more reminiscent of peak summer scenes is becoming an obstacle for locals looking to stretch their legs.

Bumper to bumper parked cars at the beach seems to have become a common sight of late as Kiwis enjoy the lesser restrictions of alert level 3.

Muriwai resident Richard Pamatatau said he had to find a quieter place to walk this morning after finding cars had taken over the footpath.

"It's incredibly busy this morning, with cars parked on the footpath," he said.

"It's inconsiderate and it's illegal."

Only the smaller of two main carparks appeared to be open this morning, with the number of people coming proving "much greater than the capacity of the carpark".

The beach area had been busy since the start of alert level 3 with surfers gliding into the water at first light on Tuesday but this morning it was "just a little bit crazy".

I wanted to walk to the beach but the footpath has been invaded - if my Line of sight does not fool me - it is Level 3 - this seems crazy - a gazillion cars at #Muriwai #stayhomenz pic.twitter.com/NchSgxJ69U

— Richard Pamatatau (@RPamatatau) May 1, 2020

"Maybe people need to get out and let some steam off and part of that is going to the beach. There are a lot of people surfing."

The surfing was really good, he said.

Although it was great to see people enjoying a beautiful weekend, he wished they would not park on the footpath and maybe consider if they needed to be there at all.

He was "perplexed" that so many people were venturing out of their bubbles "when level 3 is meant to be not much different from level 4".

He was not the only local resident to notice the influx of cars in the area today with one capturing a photo of cars parked on both sides of a dusty road.

Haven’t seen this many cars at Muriwai since we used to run our #EveryDayIsWaitangiDay Festival @RPamatatau pic.twitter.com/PaRBClz56X

— Moana Maniapoto (@moanatribe) May 1, 2020

Auckland Council Rodney Local Board chairman Phelan Pirrie said parking on footpaths was known to happen in the area during the peak summer season.

"I don't think people are really that upset. We are used to this. This stuff happens all the time.

"Muriwai is the second busiest beach in Auckland after Long Bay. Over a million people come out here every year."

He said if people kept parking on footpaths he had no doubt Auckland Transport would come out and fine people.

Some people were probably finding the contrast between people out and about since the alert level change a bit of a shock, he said.

"It was absolutely stunning this morning. It was beautiful and the surf was mint.

"I fully understand why there are people out here."

The fact it was also the weekend would have drawn people to the beach but with rain on the way, he believed the problem would ease well before Monday.

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website