WorkCover and the police have been called to the site since work started since work started on Friday.

The Orion Beach Shared User Path project forms part of the Round the Bay Walk and will build on pre-existing walking routes between Callala Bay and Hyams Beach.

The Orion Beach component of the project will include a 500-metre section to link Minerva Avenue to Plantation Point Parade.

The path will include the construction of a 2.5 metre shared user path.

The coastal population is torn between those who want it and those who don’t. The wider community is conflicted over the cost, roughly $1million for the Orion Beach section.

Emotions were running high when Orion Beach Environment Protection Group, committee member and Berry resident Peter Hands saw the large excavator clearing the trees at the back of the Minerva Street properties.

“I love the bush, I’m concerned about its preservation and to see this carnage is just horrendous,” he said.

“For our Mayor to say this is the missing link in the iconic walkway to replace the Seacliff Bridge, and for them not to be out here and see the devastation that’s happening, I just think somebody ought to be held to account.

“They’ve already pulled out three or four extra trees and they weren’t’ even on the plan.

“When we went back to council and said there’s not going to be 12 or 15 trees, there’s going to be more like 30 or 50, well here’s the proof.

“They’re not worried about it. If we could stop this now I’d be all for that

“Council can still stop this project from happening, we can reconstitute this,” he said.

Councillor Andrew Guile said he was also shocked at the size of the machinery being used on the track.

“We were told it was going to be done low environmental impact, but I guess that was just fake.

“It is looking very different to what was promised and it’s only that we were watching that we have picked up on it,” he said.

“It’s all taxpayer’s and ratepayer’s money being spent now, but what will the environmental impact be in the future. What will happen to all the trees being damaged? What will happen with erosion of this very steep site?

“We criticise developers for doing the quick and dirty application process but this is council’s doing. We are the developer,” Cr Guile said.