Tauranga residents fight Pillans Rd Bike Track closure

“Then on Wednesday last week, some council contractors turned up with diggers, and in less than an hour, they had destroyed all the track jumps, without any warning.”

Collier said she had unofficially managed the track since it was built by two local boys during the first Covid-19 lockdown in 2020.

“My children, aged 8 and 11, regularly use it, and so do many other Pillans Rd and Ōtūmoetai kids,” she said.

“Every day, children as young as 3, teenagers and adults come together to ride, create and build the jumps, and learn valuable life skills such as teamwork, resilience, perseverance and positive risk-taking.

“For the council to decide to destroy the track without any community consultation is devastating for our little community of young riders.”

Jumps on the Pillans Rd Bike Track were bulldozed last week, and neighbouring resident Emily Collier has launched a petition to save the track. Photo / Emily Collier

Collier said on Thursday, about 40-50 track users – mainly children and some parents – attended an urgent meeting at the track. Tauranga City councillors Glen Crowther and Rick Curach were also there.

“We need to keep this well-used and much-loved critical community space open, and we urge the council to engage with us to explore ways to address the safety concerns without dismantling the track,” Collier said.

She started the “Stop Tauranga City Council from closing down the Pillans Rd Bike Track” petition, which has been signed by more than 230 people on Change.org.

Matua resident Yvette McLeod said her 12-year-old twin sons and their friends were regular users of the track.

“I think it’s amazing what these kids have been doing and creating … they spend hours and hours each week down at the track, and this is devastating news for them.

“Our community, including our kids, are taking a stand against the closure of the track.”

Ōtūmoetai resident Russell Smith riding on the Pillans Rd Bike Track before the jumps were bulldozed. Photo / Russell Smith

Grange Rd resident Russell Smith, 18, said he rode the track two or three times a week.

“It’s so unfair for the council to do this without discussing their plans with the track users, especially the kids who built it and have created the jumps … It’s gutting to see it being destroyed.”

Crowther, the Ōtūmoetai-Matua ward councillor, said the council’s lack of consultation appeared to have been “some sort of glitch”, and he had been assured no further action would be taken until the matter was revisited this week.

A group of Pillans Rd Bike Track riders and their parents are challenging Tauranga City Council’s closure of the track. Photo / Supplied

“I don’t have all the answers to the council’s safety concerns, but these are really cool children. I hope we can find a solution so the track can stay open.”

Council: ‘We had to act quickly’

Alison Law, the council’s head of spaces and places, said it had received two complaints from neighbouring residents about damage to the council reserve and anti-social behaviour.

She said the reserve had a history of “unauthorised cycle jumps”, vegetation damage, excavation, and mud accumulation on footpaths and gutters.

“We are also aware that the police have been contacted.

“After a recent site visit, it was agreed there were significant health and safety risks following damage to the reserve and adjacent footpath.”

The risks named by the council included:

Undercutting of bank soil, creating potential instability.Vegetation clearance on a slope exposed to flooding during rainfall.A drop-off from a footpath presenting a trip and fall hazard. Risk of children having accidents on steep terrain or near road traffic.Proximity to an archaeological site.Tools and litter left on site.

Law said the council should have communicated with the community earlier and it would do so in the future, but it had to “act quickly” due to the health and safety issues.

She said the council would review the situation this week and decide the next steps.

“This may include adding basic safety measures to the lower part of the site for short-term management. We’ll see if there’s a way to leave part of the reserve open over the summer.”

Law said the estimated cost of cleaning up the lower area of the reserve was around $10,000, which covered the digger work, rubbish removal and loss of vegetation.

“That does not include reinstatement and replanting, and a retaining wall or similar structure may also be required on the upper section of track below Pillans Rd.”

Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post who has been a journalist for 25 years. She mainly covers police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional/community reporter of the year.