I attended the meeting held at the Omokoroa Settler's Hall along with 280 other concerned residents to catch up with what NZ Roads are doing about the traffic problems on State Highway 2 and concerns about the junction of Omokoroa Road
and SH2.

Omokoroa Road is the only exit from the fast growing community.

We were informed that a further 1000 sections are coming on the market!

The NZTA representatives spent 20 minutes informing us they were in the planning stage. No details.

The MP for Tauranga, Simon Bridges, the Minister for Transport, told us that something would be done, that safety was the main issue and then kept banging on about the millions being spent by government on roading. No details on what is planned locally which is all the residents wanted to know. There were more to the point comments/suggestions from the floor.

Make use of the railway; run trains to town – dismissed by Mr Bridges 'Too much work to do on the track,” yet freight to the port runs on it each day!

Why was a roundabout to be built at Te Puna when at peak hours motorists on both sides of the highway chose to join the queue at Wairoa Bridge? Omokoroa has no alternate routes. Turning towards Katikati is also a real issue.

I wondered when I left the meeting if the roading department in their planning are using the same criteria as the Western Bay Council when they designed the wastewater pipeline a few years back. That is that the pipeline be of a size to cope with a population of 12,000 for Omokoroa.

P Turner, Pyes Pa,
formerly Te Puna West