‘It feels like forced compliance’

Carterton District Council [CDC] has stuck it to the man and deferred a decision to revoke a speed bylaw.

A request to revoke the Wairarapa Consolidated Bylaw 2019, Part 11: Speed went before each Wairarapa council in recent weeks.

Masterton and South Wairarapa councils voted to revoke the bylaw, which used to be the tool to manage local road speed limits. Last year, new legislation came into force which supersedes the bylaw, rendering it toothless. However, it does not automatically revoke the bylaw.

One key change under the new legislation is that rather than each council managing local road speed limits through their own individual bylaws, Waka Kotahi now advises and determines safe and appropriate speeds on roads for councils to follow, as part of their speed management plans.

The legislation rolled out as part of Waka Kotahi’s Road to Zero – New Zealand’s Road Safety Strategy 2020-2030.

Carterton Deputy Mayor Dale Williams asked fellow elected members if this was “Waka Kotahi getting their own way by stealth”.

“It just feels like forced compliance,” he said.

Mayor Ron Mark said CDC had already indicated it was uncomfortable with accepting Waka Kotahi’s Road to Zero principles in December when it chose not to adopt the principles and priorities of a draft interim speed management plan that proposed an end to 100kmh speed limits in the district.

Instead, elected members “noted” the principles and priorities, ensuring they were not locking themselves into a predetermined position on the speed review before community consultation.

The speed management plan, compiled by Tonkin and Taylor for Carterton and South Wairarapa councils, proposed to drop dozens of 100kmh rural stretches of road to 80kmh or 60kmh. It also proposed dropping some to 40kmh.

Last week, Williams said by not revoking the council’s speed bylaw, the council was making a political statement.

“It feels to me like Waka Kotahi wants to proceed down their stated Road to Zero strategy and just steamroll over road users.

“This [decision not to revoke] might be a bit symbolic, but I’m just trying to keep ourselves positioned on the right side of public opinion locally until we hear what the people think.”

A council staffer noted that by not revoking the bylaw, the council would need to maintain two instruments for setting road speeds. They also noted the bylaw had “no teeth” and would be automatically superseded by the new legislation.

Councillor Grace Ayling said CDC should be “pushing back and telling them to bugger off”.

After robust discussion, councillors agreed to defer any decision around the consolidated bylaw until the consultation on the interim speed management plan was received by council.

A Waka Kotahi spokesperson said the government had established the Road to Zero strategy, which aimed to reduce death and serious injury on New Zealand roads by 40 per cent by 2030, with the ultimate goal of zero people killed on New Zealand roads.

“The Government has also adopted a new Setting of Speed Limits Rule which sets out a new approach to speed management, creating consistent, safe and appropriate speed limits across the entire network.

“The Rule came into force on 19 May 2022, requiring the use of speed management plans to implement safe and appropriate speed limits, and will significantly improve how speed limits are managed and consulted on.

“Under the Setting of Speed Limits Rule, Waka Kotahi must create speed management plans for the State Highway network, while local councils must do the same for local roads.”

Waka Kotahi said currently only about 10 per cent of speed limits suited the road and the environment they were in.

“Speed limits were first set before we knew what was safe and appropriate for our roads.

“Lowering speed limits comes down to what we all value most: protecting the lives of all of us who use streets and roads across our communities.”

– NZLDR

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