A group of Papamoa East residents are continuing their push to have vital infrastructure such as pedestrian crossings and accessibility on a par with population growth in the area.

And after three years of debate and petition, they finally believe they are making progress with Tauranga City Council.

PEERs group members John Middleton and Rick Hannay on Papamoa Beach Road. Photo: Tracy Hardy.

This Thursday night the Papamoa Papamoa East Evacuation and Road Safety Group (PEERS) is holding an open public meeting to discuss issues in the suburb - particularly the Te Okuroa Drive extension and a lack of an alternative to Papamoa Beach Road.

'Hopefully we will have enough seats or a venue big enough,” says PEERS group member John Middleton.

Created in 2012, the group has long held concerns over the lack of direction on evacuation routes and alternative roads out of Papamoa should a tsunami hit, as well as road safety around newly built developments.

The group argues that infrastructural improvement must form part of the overall strategy as new housing developments mushroom in the Papamoa East Area.

'We have repeatedly called for an upgrade of the ‘no-exit' on Papamoa Beach Road as the traffic volume east of Parton Road heads toward 10,000 on a daily basis,” says John.

'It's also essential that a starting date for the extension of Te Okuroa Drive, to provide an alternative exit from Papamoa East, be a written commitment to residents.”

John, who will chair Thursday's meeting, says the group isn't 'anti-development” by any stretch, and believes they are finally making progress with council.

In the past the group has petitioned council to bring forward the extension of Te Okuroa Drive to join with Golden Sands Drive, citing a lack of an alternative beach route out of eastern Papamoa which had Papamoa Beach Road as the only access.

The construction of Te Okura Drive is expected to cost $30million and take three years, with the first stage starting this year, but Tauranga City Council is relying on development contributions to finish the project.

John says council has previously forgotten refuges, pedestrian crossings and safety additions on Papamoa Beach Road as developments have taken shape – an important necessity for people wanting to get to the beach amidst increased traffic volumes.

'They [council] are not leaving them behind anymore,” he adds. 'They have woken up at last but the thing is they never had them in place when they started the infrastructure because they supposedly didn't have the funds.”

The meeting will also be attended by Tauranga City councillors Leanne Brown and Steve Morris, and Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller - a move John feels wouldn't have been possible with previous Mount/Papamoa Ward councillors Wayne Moultrie and David Stewart.

'We are very fortunate of having two councillors who are pro-Papamoa now,” he explains.

Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller says it will be a listening exercise and is looking forward to hearing what residents have to say on local road infrastructure and the alternative route from Papamoa Beach Road out to the city, as well as possibilities of linking on to the Tauaranga eastern Link once compeleted.

'I will be very interested in those points,” says Todd.

'A lot of it is local government and accountability, but certainly linking on to the TEL - I think there is a role for a local MP to hear that and take that message back to NZTA.”

The public meeting, open to everyone, will be held on Thursday at 7pm at Papamoa Sports and Recreation Centre's Surfbreaker room.