Members of the public are invited to attend an information session on Tauranga City Council's controversial Pilot Bay boardwalk plan as members of the community plan protest action to stop its construction.

The information session, at Pilot Bay from 3.30-6.30pm on Wednesday, will show the proposed final design for the $500,000 walkway and allow the public to have their say.

The public are invited to attend a public meeting about the boardwalk on Pilot Bay on Wednesday.

A Tauranga City Council spokesman says people are invited to come and look at the design and talk with staff members and elected council members as the proposal is not yet finalised.

'People can come and look at it because there is still a level of flexibility in the design and the council will have a chat about what's trying to be achieved.”

The information session follows the planning of a protest against the boardwalk to be held this Sunday.

The protest labelled ‘Say No To The Pilot Bay Boardwalk' on Facebook and an online petition have both been set up by public opposing council's decision with the aim to convince council to stop the proposal, or at least re-route the boardwalk.

If the boardwalk goes ahead it will create a direct link along the foreshore for cruise ship passengers walking to Mauao.

Last week, a meeting of concerned residents including councillors, the Mount Maunganui Progressive Association and the Pilot Bay coastal care group, met with Mayor Stuart Crosby asking for the project to be put on hold until concerns about the size, location and impact of the boardwalk have been met.

Mount Progressive Association chairman David Burnett, who organised the meeting, says talks were positive with council agreeing not to let the tender for the boardwalk go ahead under the current plan without input from the groups who attended the meeting.

Dave says the association is not objecting the boardwalk in part or in whole, but cannot accept the proposal under the current plan.

'We said yes we are happy to entertain some form of boardwalk or where it's required to protect the most vulnerable points of Pilot Bay.

'The association is very strong on the question that some redevelopment and recontouring and replacement of sand can greatly increase the area.”

Papamoa Progressive Association chairman Steve Morris says everybody agrees work needs to be done down along Pilot Bay because it has been neglected for a number few years, but admits it is about finding a balance.

'The big thing is if they are going to put a boardwalk in, it needs to be narrow and needs to be out of the picnic area.”

The contentious issue is the proposal to run the boardwalk through the popular picnic area towards the Salisbury Wharf, where during weekends it caters for an influx of families who take their children to the bay, says Steve.

'These are young families who like to just sprawl out and take their kids down there and not be battered around by the surf.

'It's one of the better places to go down just have a paddle around and Pilot Bay is one of those rare spots.”