Whakatāne Mayor Victor Luca is seeking community support for his proposal for a second river crossing for the township.

Dr Luca has been advocating for a second bridge for Whakatāne since he entered council in 2019.

With a team of supporters, he is creating a petition to accompany a proposal he has written to take to the Minister of Infrastructure Chris Bishop. The petition will be svailable for signing at locations around town.

“We’re just going cap in hand to Government,” he said.

Since he became mayor in 2022, Dr Luca has continued to push for a new bridge, speaking to the East Coast’s MP at the time, Kiri Allen, and former Transport Minister Simeon Brown.

In August 2023, his request that council staff put together a proposal for a second river crossing was agreed to at a council meeting. However, the proposal never eventuated.

“That didn’t go anywhere, so I decided to write it myself,” Dr Luca said. “I started in the second half of last year.

“We’ll send that in to the minister with a petition, hopefully with a few thousand signatures on it.”

Last year, he also managed to have an application for funding for a full business case included in the Regional Land Transport Plan.

“The bridge proposal was ranked 12^thor 13^th in the Bay of Plenty, and I was quite hopeful at one point. But unbeknownst to me [central government] didn’t provide a lot of funding and it seems as if most of it has gone to Tauranga and the Western Bay. We didn’t get even a look in. But if you don’t rattle the cage or stir things up, then you’re not going to get a bridge.”

He emphasises the proposal is not a business case and although it identifies several potential locations that have been suggested by people over the years, it does not advocate for any particular location for a bridge.

“Every man and his dog are going to have a view on where it should go,” he said. “It’s all about advocating. The detail would come in a full-blown business case.”

The proposal outlines the “significant challenges” faced by the Eastern Bay due to its largest town’s reliance on the Landing Road Bridge, constructed in 1962 “and now under increasing strain from growing population, seismic risks, and climate-related threats”.

It points out the Whakatāne district’s population has nearly tripled since the Landing Road bridge was built and is projected to reach 42,500 by 2033.

The proposal asks for funding for a detailed business case, geo-spatial analysis, technical feasibility studies, and benefit-cost evaluations. It also asks the minister to initiate collaborative planning, such as partnering with regional councils, iwi, and stakeholders to align priorities and resources, to incorporate lessons from Cyclone Gabrielle and focus on long-term climate adaptation strategies.

He said people needed to front up if the proposal was to get any attention from central government.

“If this town wants a second bridge, it needs to get out and sign up to a petition which could accompany a proposal, which will be sent to the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Chris Bishop.

“It’s still a fair way to go but if you don’t do the advocacy and you don’t have the nod from upstairs, you’re probably not going to get anywhere. This is one step on the road. It’s what I promised my community I was going to do, which is advocate for the bridge so that’s what I’m doing.”