File photo. Photo: RNZ / Tom Taylor
One person has died after a vehicle rolled on Muriwai Beach in west Auckland.
Police were alerted to the incident at 2.40pm on Sunday.
Two people also sustained serious injuries as a result of the car rolling.
Earlier, at least three ambulances, two rapid response vehicles, a fire truck and a rescue helicopter were seen travelling to Muriwai Beach.
A police spokesperson said the Serious Crash Unit attended and an investigation into the cause of the crash was ongoing.
The Rodney local board chair said some people driving on Muriwai Beach do not understand the risk they are taking.
Brent Bailey said Muriwai is used by so many different groups, such as swimmers, people fishing and horse riders, and throwing vehicles into the mix can be dangerous.
"It's about time New Zealanders grew up and stopped thinking about being entitled to things and started thinking about being responsible, to the shared responsiblity of the safety of all the community."
Bailey said the Muriwai community has already faced enough tragedy recently after landslides last year killed two volunteer firemen and displaced hundreds of residents.
The New Zealand Herald is reporting the victim was a teenage girl but RNZ has not been able to confirm that.
Auckland Council had closed Muriwai Beach to vehicles during the summer peak season from 29 December 2023 to 15 January 2024.
Bailey said dangerous beach driving is a national issue and it is his personal opinion that central government input is needed to make a change.
"It's about time we had some central government leadership on this so that Auckland Transport and Regional Park staff could rely on that to inform their decision making... At the moment it's legislatively complex, it's incredibly difficult to get changes around speed limits and restrictions to access.
"I think emergency services vehicles, surf patrols, people launching boats, those are all appropriate things to do... But there should be really close controls on who goes to the beach and people who won't bide by the rules, we should be allowed to ban them."
