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."