Proactive, not reactive: new Tauranga cycling advocacy group wants council partnership

Karen Hay of Tauranga City Council and Kevin Kerr of Bike Tauranga on Ngatai Rd, soon to be transformed by a separated by-directional cycleway. Photo/John Borren

Tauranga's cycling lobby has been strengthened with the formation of an independent city-wide advocacy group, Bike Tauranga.

Bike Tauranga chairman, business owner Kevin Kerr, said the group aimed to work alongside local transport authorities to promote cycling and make it safer and more convenient in the city - outcomes he said would benefit all road users.

"Every bike on the road is one less car."

Kerr said the idea for the group began in 2015 when the city's cycling community rallied against Tauranga City Council's decision not to help fund the Ōmokoroa to Tauranga cycleway. The council later bowed to public pressure and agreed to help fund the project.

Protest movement conception aside, Kerr said Bike Tauranga wanted to be a proactive group working in positive partnerships with the council and the NZ Transport Agency, rather than a reactive group.

He said they wanted to get involved in the planning stages of projects to promote quality design and the integration of cycling infrastructure with other modes of transport.

Their involvement could help prevent repeats of costly issues such as those identified with the new cycleways created for the Maungatapu underpass.

Kerr said despite recent progress, including the allocation of up to $100 million in transportation funding to cycling projects in Tauranga over the next decade, cyclists were still a minority transport user group and needed to work to make sure their voices were heard.

Bike Tauranga will be led by a 10-person committee of volunteers, among them representatives of other community advocacy groups, including Bike Mount and Greater Tauranga.

Others, including schools, individuals and other cycling groups, will soon be able to join for a $10 fee that will help cover operational costs.

Karen Hay, newly appointed implementation manager for Tauranga City Council's cycling plan, welcomed the creation of the group.

She said the council was focused on providing better transport options - for cyclists, pedestrians, bus users and drivers - and good community engagement was fundamental to ensuring they got it right.

"This is an exciting opportunity for us to get some consolidated views on our priorities."

Councillor Rick Curach, chairman of the council's transport committee, said the group was "exactly what we need" to help make the cycling plan a success.

Bike Tauranga was affiliated with national lobby group the Cycle Action Network.

Network spokesman Patrick Morgan said it was the first Tauranga-wide group to join the network, and a strong coordinated local voice with the ear of the council had the potential to "make all the difference".

"For many years Tauranga has been planned around cars. Like all modern cities, that is changing."

With a compact CBD, parking shortage and mild climate, Tauranga could become one of the best cycling cities in New Zealand, he said.

"More people on bikes will make the city work better for everyone."