Farm Street residents fighting council plans for a bus interchange in their street are being given a hearing before councillors on Monday.

They are opposing the plan to put bus stops along both sides of Farm Street, outside the northern end of the Bayfair Shopping Centre.

The council claims it is a temporary interchange, but residents say the street isn't suitable for the buses.

The proposal is for six bus stops either side of the street, which residents' spokesman Jon Jenner says directly contravenes a previous city council agreement to provide a safe, continuous access route around Bayfair.

Farm Street is a local road and is entirely unsuitable for a major bus interchange, says Jon.

'It will make this local road far more dangerous than it already is, and operationally the buses will be hampered by being forced into an unsuitable road corridor.”

Buses on both sides of the street at the same time will delay other traffic using Farm Street which is becoming busier as an alternative route for traffic avoiding the B2B construction.

The residents are also concerned the city council has unilaterally agreed to double accesses to Farm Street from Bayfair form two to four.

'Farm St is not wide enough to accommodate these commercial exits – this is a Bayfair resource consent issue to be investigated,” says Jon.

Instead of clogging the increasingly busy Girven-Concord link with buses, Farm Street needs remedies for the increasing number of commuter cyclists using the street.

'There are no proper paths for them,” says Jon. 'Residents have huge concerns around school cyclists and pedestrians biking and walking to Mount Intermediate and Mount College.”

'The Bayfair Expansion and the B2B Projects have produced a huge increase in traffic volumes over the existing levels. The rat run traffic, especially in evenings – will worsen as construction proceeds.”

Bike Mount is proposing a shared cycle path along the western side of Farm Street, says Jon.

Tauranga City Council has permitted the use of Farm St for heavy construction vehicles until early 2019 despite Bayfair resource consent conditions clearly indicating local roads should not be used, says Jon.

There has never been an agreement with residents about the interchange, says Jon. And consultation is required by council policy.

They want the interchange back on Bayfair property or on Girven Road, or Owens Place or in between Baywave and St John Ambulance, or at Baypark.

The Farm Street residents will be presenting their case in the public forum of the Audit, Finance and Risk Committee meeting at 1pm in the council chamber.