The Bay of Plenty Community Trails Trust are pushing Tauranga City Council to rethink its position on denying funding for its section of the Tauranga Moana cycle trail.

The group will hold a bike rally from 9am this Sunday in support of the Tauranga to Omokoroa coastal cycleway.

Tauranga city's current commitment to cycle tracks.

Cyclists will ride from Ferguson Park to the Strand Waterfront via Sulphur Point and Dive Crescent in an attempt to send a clear message to council that its lack of support is unacceptable.

The development of the Tauranga Moana cycle trail is a joint venture between the Western Bay District Council and Tauranga City Council.

For many years the group has been lobbying council on the city's need to becomepart of New Zealand's Cycle Trail project.

Western Bay, the lead agency on the project, has committed to paying $300,000 a year in its draft 10-year plan. However, TCC recently declined to fund their portion, from Matua to the Wairoa River, thereby putting the total project in jeopardy.

Tauranga City Council reneged on their prior agreement to pay their share of the Tauranga Moana cycle trail from Omokoroa to Ngatai Road.

Councillors voted six-to-four against providing $500,000 for the project on the grounds that the government should be paying for the national trail, with council money being spent on cycle trails within the city.

The decision is a turn-around on agreements made at the city council/Western Bay of Plenty Joint Governance Committee in August 2011.

The committee originally approved the section of the Tauranga Moana Coastal trail as a joint council project.

Bay of Plenty Community Trails Trust, in a statement on the group's Facebook page, says Tauranga needs a safe cycle and pedestrian link across the Wairoa River, linking the city with other coastal communities.

Council's decision can still be changed following public consultation on the Long Term Plan.

'This 20 km cycleway will also provide a safe and attractive environment for residents to explore this beautiful stretch of coast either on foot or bicycle,” reads the event flyer.

'Tauranga is extremely conspicuous by its absence from any National Cycle Trail initiatives.”

The weekend's rally comes as Transport Minister Simon Bridges announced applications have been flooding in for the $90 million remaining in the Government's Urban Cycleways Programme.

Simon says since the first tranche of projects were announced in late January, 59 new applications have been received from almost all of the main urban centres across the country.

'This strong response shows that cycling is becoming a clear priority for urban councils,” says Simon.

'The Government's Urban Cycleways Programme has successfully incentivised local councils to accelerate their own urban cycleways plans.”

The applications are for the second and final tranche of projects to be funded by the Urban Cycleways Programme.

The programme is designed to pull together a number of funding sources, including local government and the National Land Transport Fund, to enable high-quality projects to get underway much sooner than may otherwise have been the case.

Some $9.9 million has already been allocated to progress the first set of projects in Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. The remaining $90.1 million will be invested between 2015 and 2018.

The NZ Transport Agency is currently prioritising the applications, which will be reviewed by the Urban Cycleways Investment Panel.

Urban Cycleways Programme projects are decided by the Minister of Transport, on the recommendation of the Urban Cycleways Investment Panel.

'I expect to announce the successful applicants by the middle of this year,” adds Simon.

'I'm really looking forward to watching the programme help create a user-friendly cycleway network across the country, encouraging more people to cycle more safely, more often.”

Bay of Plenty Community Trails Trust bike rally:

When: Sunday, May 3, starting at 9am

Where: Ferguson Park

Cycle Route: Ferguson Park to the Strand Waterfront,

The bike route is deemed suitable and safe for children aged 8-years and above.