Links Ave street sign. Photo / Talia Parker
Links Avenue residents are calling on Tauranga City Council to form a consultation committee to oversee the new cul-de-sac trial.
But the council says it will consult the community directly.
The first trial started in November last year, when Links Ave was turned into a cul-de-sac to reduce traffic flow.
The trial received immediate backlash, with residents protesting and petitioning to shut it down.
At an extraordinary meeting on February 14, the council confirmed that a second trial would go ahead, this time lasting four months.
Papamoa Residents and Ratepayers Association president Philip Brown addressed the council at the meeting on Monday.
In his presentation, he implored the council to establish a joint committee of community members and council staff to oversee the trial, as well as holding a town-hall meeting with a wider variety of affected residents.
The council did hold town hall meetings with affected residents before the second trial was announced, but Brown said these didn't go far enough.
He told the Bay of Plenty Times that the community had "a wealth of experience, a wealth of knowledge".
"Locals who live in the street, live in the area, know what happens. To shun them seems to be not using all your resources."
He suggested the committee consist of Links Ave residents, Oceanbeach Rd residents, and some people from Mount Maunganui, to represent all those affected by the trial.
He said the collaboration between council staff members and the community would help build trust and communication.
"No matter what solution we come up with, it will be better told to the community if there is community input in it.
"We've got to go and get trust back. Trust doesn't exist."
He said a "well run, well chaired" committee would avoid an "us versus them" situation and lead to collaboration and better solutions.
"I can't see a negative in it if the committee is chaired well.
"We're all living in this community, we want it to prosper.
"Who knows what ideas could come up?"
Regardless, Brown said the issue was far from settled.
"I won't give up. I don't give up."
However, the Arataki Community Liaison Group said a new committee would not help.
Their group was created to be a bridge between the council and the community on projects and decisions.
The committee told the Bay of Plenty Times that "TCC has already had a group [themselves] set up that was supposed to be engaged in exactly these types of projects".
"The group has been effectively sidelined and ignored - so we do not believe any other grouping would see a different result."
The group felt their objections to the trial had not been listened to.
They said the feedback they had received from residents on the first trial had been "overwhelmingly negative, especially with the lack of consultation and the feeling of being ignored and powerless".
"ACLG offered its views in February and they were ignored. There has been no consultation since February."
Links Ave resident Teri Logie said she thought a committee was a good idea but she doubted the council would go for it.
"The council has not listened to one idea at all, as far as we know. Why would they agree to this?
"It won't happen."
She said the trial caused her problems as a resident, as it forced her to use main roads to access her main shopping areas.
She said when she uses the road, her "blood pressure will rise each day as I am reminded of the fact that they did not listen".
"I say, don't do the trial, listen to the people who pay their salaries, as well as not wasting more ratepayer's money."
Another resident of Links Ave, who wished to remain anonymous, said she wasn't sure a committee would be worthwhile.
"I'm not sure I'd want to spend time on a committee, as I think councils usually have their agendas already in place and those against projects rarely change the plans."
She was against the new trial, and said it "will create the same chaos as before" with "traffic queues and safety implications on the surrounding roads in the network".
"The justification for the project is misleading as there is no safety issue on Links Ave. I suspect it is just about bus priority.
"I'd suggest the trial doesn't go ahead at all."
Another resident, who also wished to be anonymous, said he too thought the council wouldn't be effective.
He said the ACLG had been ignored, so he didn't see the point in trying again.
"We've had this idea beforehand, and the council have walked away from it, so I don't know why there would be any hope of getting it off the ground this time."
"I just don't think the council would endorse it or listen to it or use it as a tool."
When asked if the council would consider establishing a committee, a Tauranga City Council communications manager said it "will be working with directly affected residents and stakeholders on Links Avenue, like the schools and the football club, to help inform decision making".
The council's director of transport Brendan Bisley said there was "a significant proportion of directly affected residents who support the trial and share our concerns for the safety of children using Links Avenue."
"Council is committed to working with the community during this trial and is looking to work with residents and local schools."
He said the council "provided ACLG with an update on the Links Avenue trial and an opportunity to ask questions prior to commissioners making a decision about the new Links Avenue trial. Unfortunately, only one person could attend".
Bisley said the layout of Links Avenue during the trial would be "largely a blank canvas, ready for the community to be part of a conversation about how the road could operate if traffic volumes remain low in the future".
Bisley said the council had implemented resident feedback from the first trial for the second, including removing the bus lane and relocating the roundabout to near Concord Ave.
He said the council "has the obligation to operate and manage the trial as a method of testing its potential effectiveness at increasing road safety."
Bisley said enforcement of the cul de sac will begin on March 30.
A disregard for authority could be why those attending court are thumbing their noses.