Today over 700 students dressed in orange paraded with excitement through the city centre with colourful banners to raise awareness about road safety and active travel in their communities.
The Orange Day Parade is a celebration of students who share their road safety messages throughout the year. It is supported by Tauranga City Council, Western Bay of Plenty District Council and NZ Police.
Tauranga Deputy Mayor Larry Baldock was impressed with the turnout.
“We want our kids to get to school safely and get home again and we want to encourage more active participation like walking and biking to school like we did growing up.
“We’ve got more traffic on the roads now, so we need to work harder to make sure children have that opportunity to get to and from school safely.”
Inspector Zane Smith, NZ Police, was rapt by the important transport messages students had created that addressed issues in their communities.
“Orange Day is opportunity to celebrate the fantastic work the students have done in keeping our school communities safe.
“Their actions promote awareness on road safety issues around our schools and it’s great to be able to recognise the effort and commitment they have made throughout the year,” Zane said.
The Orange Day Parade is now in its thirteenth year.
2019 winning banners:
Students Year 5/6
Active Travel: Taumata School
Road Safety: Greenpark School
Students Year 7/8
Active Travel: Tauranga Intermediate
Road Safety: Pyes Pa School
Highly commended:
Pukehina School
Welcome Bay School
Fairhaven School
Bellvue School
Celebrations underway this morning as students parade through Tauranga inner-city streets.