New hope for city cycleway

Hundreds of cyclists turned up to a recent rally to persuade the council to contribute to the Omokoroa to Otumoetai cycleway. Photo / George Novak

Changes to the route of the planned cycleway from Omokoroa to Tauranga could persuade the city council to change its mind and support the project.

Mayor Stuart Crosby yesterday revealed that a new alignment was proposed, with the potential to reduce costs and allow the option of linking into a walkway planned to be built to Miles Lane, along the Tauranga side of Wairoa River.

The disclosure comes at the same time as the council is under huge community pressure to reverse its decision not to fund a $500,000 share of the Tauranga leg of the cycleway.

Instead of the cycleway bridging the Wairoa River close to the railway bridge and following the railway to Ngati Rd, the new plan was to cross the river upstream at Waimarino.

Mr Crosby said the cycleway would then traverse Parau Farms, behind Taniwha Lane, and link directly into Bethlehem. Parau Farms has been earmarked for sports fields.

Most of the esplanade land for the riverside trail option had been acquired, with long-term plans for the esplanade to extend to Tauriko.

A full report on the route change will be considered by the council next week, when it considers the 654 submissions and petitions made to the Long Term Plan.

Mr Crosby also delivered a ray of hope to public shock that the council planned to freeze funding for new library books at $798,000 a year for 10 years - effectively losing 20,000 books a year.

He said there was no doubt the $798,000 would change once the council had completed its review of library services later this year.

Council's city directions group manager Christine Jones said they would not know the right level of new book spending until the work had been done.

The council will also decide whether to spend $40,000 on a survey on if it should support a big chunk of museum operating costs. The survey would take place in 2015-16 and, if supported, could result in a reversal of previous councils' hands-off attitude.

Next week's meetings will consider a staff recommendation to spend $65,000 to rebuild the Mount Maunganui Surf Lifesaving Club's unsafe and leaking lifeguard tower, together with $135,000 to change the layout of emergency management, medical and administrative rooms.