The Links Ave reserve, which houses the Tauranga AFC club building. Photo / Talia Parker
A Tauranga football club has launched a petition demanding the council funnel some of the $1.4 million it issued in tickets during a controversial bus trial back to the community.
The four-month trial turned Links Ave into a cul-de-sac to be used mainly by buses, to reduce the excessive traffic on the residential street and improve safety for children using it to access their school.
More than $1.4m in fines has been issued throughout the course of the trial - the council says 964 fines, $144,600 worth, were issued specifically to residents with Links Ave addresses.
Tauranga AFC president Brendon McHugh set up a petition to return access to the street and for some of the money collected in fines to be returned to the community.
The petition had 930 signatures as of Sunday.
A previous petition to have all the fines refunded reached more than 5000 signatures, but the council chose to reject its requests.
The latest petition states club members had received a "huge quantity" of fines due to a lack of road signs near the clubrooms alerting people to the trial, that there had been more crime in the street now it was quieter and increased congestion on surrounding streets was putting young members walking or biking to the club in danger.
The petition is also seeking "a portion of revenue generated from fines to be donated to the local community and our football club for the inconvenience, additional cost and lost revenue the restrictions have caused".
McHugh told the Bay of Plenty Times he was inspired to start the petition "to ensure that our members, who are major stakeholders of Links Avenue, have a voice".
Since starting the petition, McHugh said the club had been invited to be part of a community panel being established to give feedback about the trial.
"We don't disagree with improving safety for school children, but the current solution isn't fair to everyone outside of school drop-off hours."
Tauranga City Council engaged with the club about the trial "only a day prior to the trial being approved, and only after we made a number of inquiries to staff asking what was happening", he said.
"We found it frustrating that the impact on us wasn't considered at all."
McHugh said the trial was affecting the club's revenue, which was vital as a community club.
"We've seen decreased supporters at games and club events. It won't close the doors, but it's definitely put a lot more pressure on our volunteers at the club and prevented us investing in improvements to our clubrooms we had planned this year."
He said club members and supporters had reported having to park on Maunganui Rd, which was "not safe at all".
"We also have regular visitors from Auckland who are not used to the road changes ... We hear from them every week about being fined."
McHugh said the club had also noticed an increase in vandalism.
"Weekly graffiti, our grandstand and equipment regularly being vandalised, smashed bottles, dumped rubbish, and other items which are best not mentioned".
"There have been several attempts to break in and we've had to increase our security measures, at an additional cost to our club."
The club recently had custom covers, worth $5000, stolen.
In response to these comments, the council's director of transport Brendan Bisley said the Links Ave trial was "well signposted, with drivers coming from the football club driving past two signs advising of the bus lane and the road surface painted green with the words bus lane written on the road".
"It is clear that the road is a bus lane and the bus lane rules are nationwide road code rules so all drivers should be aware of the restrictions surrounding them.
"On June 13, a decision was made to set up a community panel, whose sole objective is to come up with a community-led solution that will provide a permanent safe roading environment for the Links Avenue community."
Bisley said the council had now started a survey seeking community feedback about the trial from the wider community including parents whose children use the street, bus passengers, residents on surrounding streets, and sports field users.
He encouraged people to take part in the survey, the results of which would be shared with the community panel.
Visit this address to give your views.
Sustainable BOP's chief executive Glen Crowther was also concerned about the Links Ave trial.
"It doesn't deal with the fundamental problem of how to get a low carbon transport system that allows people to move around the city efficiently.
"A sustainable approach means listening to local communities and having a clear plan with measurable goals. That has not happened in this case."
He said the increased congestion on other Arataki roads could lead to increased carbon emissions.
"Our trust has always said that there should have been clearly measurable goals that were measured before, during and after the trial, including CO2 emissions."
He feared the trial would discourage people from finding alternatives to using their cars.
"You can't force people out of their cars without giving them a more attractive option. The trick is to offer better options to people so that people willingly change their own behaviour."
He said the timing of the trial "couldn't be worse" because bus driver shortages and Covid-19 were affecting bus schedules, making them less attractive to commuters to relieve congestion.
He thought blocking the road all day every day was "overkill", and only needed to be closed during school start and finish times.
"We still don't understand why that wouldn't work.
"It would have given locals an option to ... either take a bus or travel early to avoid the morning peak or expect to get stuck in lots of traffic."
In response to Crowther, Bisley said the trial is "deliberately biased towards safety and we are seeking to improve safety along the street".
"There are bus services from Pāpāmoa to the Mount and the CBD, and residents and drivers can use these services if they would like to lower their carbon emissions.
"The carbon emissions are related to the choices drivers make about which mode they use. Council does not control that aspect of the transport network."
The van was stolen in April and found on White St in Whitianga last week, police say.