Whakatāne residents are not rushing to sign a petition to Parliament for a second bridge.

Whakatāne District Grey Power Association started a petition on the New Zealand Parliament website last week for the Government to prioritise funding for a second bridge in Whakatāne.

Grey Power members have also been gathering signatures at locations across the district, including The Strand and Kopeopeo, in Whakatāne and in Edgecumbe and Rūātoki.

So far the online version on the Parliamentary petitions website has gathered just over 200 signatures.

Petition organiser Vern Scheffer said that around 500 people had signed hard copies.

“It’s early days, yet,” he said.

“You’ve got to start somewhere. This is it. Our petition is registered with the Government petition’s office in Wellington. So that’s something. It means they do have to look at it.”

The petition supports a proposal for a second river crossing in Whakatāne written by Mayor Victor Luca, who has advocated for a second bridge since being voted onto Whakatāne District Council in 2019.

He said funding was needed for a full business case on both a new Whakatāne bridge and a replacement for the Pekatahi Bridge.

“It can cost anything from $500,000 to $1 million, just for a business case.”

He had also given a presentation to the Bay of Plenty Regional Transport Committee on his proposal.

Dr Luca said if the Whakatāne community wanted a new bridge, it would be up to them whether they wished to support the petition.

Minister of Transport Chris Bishop told the Beacon the Government was aware of the proposal and New Zealand Transport Agency had been working with Whakatāne District Council for many years.

“Petitions are an important way to bring matters to Parliament’s attention, but currently there are no plans to duplicate the existing bridge,” he said.

“I would encourage WDC to keep engaging with NZTA on this issue.”

The petition can be viewed at petitions.parliament.nz and searching for the title of the petition, “Whakatane District Grey Power Association: Additional Bridge for Whakatāne”.