The Milford Beach stairs after the "renewal" project. Photo: Auckland Council / Supplied
Auckland's Mayor has made fun of the controversial Milford Beach stairs.
In a statement to RNZ, Wayne Brown said he was unhappy Auckland Council spent over $263,000 to replace old concrete stairs at the popular North Shore beach.
"I find this disgraceful.
"It does not represent the 'better, faster, cheaper' message I have been trying to get council to adhere to since I've been mayor."
The four sets of stairs connected a coastal walkway down to the beach.
In an X post, Brown took a dig at the costly conundrum and shared a picture of himself at a construction site.
In the picture, a beaming Brown posed next to a row of concrete steps.
"Council spent 256k on 4 sets of 7 steps. That's $9142 PER STEP!!
"Visited the Simplicity Site today and found these steps at a bargain cost of $3500! That's $388 PER STEP!"
Brown told RNZ he had made it clear Auckland Council projects needed to be properly costed and justified before getting the signoff.
"This cannot happen again. I have instructed the CEO that we must work out how much we're prepared to spend on solving a problem before doing design work.
"That way, we can ensure value for ratepayers' money."