The ‘amended' plan has stealthfully deviated from promoted pathway and fair enough Crs. Catherine Stewart and Murray Guy are justifiably miffed. The Pilot Bay Boardwalk will be environmentally unfriendly for the grassed area users plus it will seriously affect the number of available road parking spaces. To top it off, this boardwalk is quite unnecessary and along with most other current titivations around Tauranga, it is really only being undertaken because Election time looms. Cost of $400k will rapidly become $800k when the dust settles and the price overruns will probably be met out of roading, parking or other accounts to disguise what has happened. A small concrete path from the wakas to the Mount boat ramp was justified but that's all.

Present mess resembles zig zag crazy paving and ground all has to be reinstated.

As for the so called relic midden, there is no way this is ancient because its so near the surface of foreshore land reclaimed over the past 50 years, - more PC garbage, koha and archaeological surveillance costs here no doubt. A check of the site shows shells located around 30cm below the surface which is in pure topsoil.

Mounties, bear in mind the Boardwalk Sub-Committee comprises Mayor Crosby, Mount Ward, Crs. Moultrie and Stewart and last but not least, the main driver of this overkill expensive venture is Cr. Tony Christiansen.

S Paterson, Arataki.