Speed limit changes stay on track

Planned speed changes in the Bay of Islands and Kerikeri have been given the green light by Far North elected members following the coalition government’s decision to halt “blanket” speed limit reductions.

At the council’s February 8 meeting, it was decided to continue with speed limit changes recommended by the Bay of Islands-Kerikeri Speed Limit Review, as the work was well underway before the new government’s announcement, and $800,000 in funding had already been allocated. That allocation included a 69 per cent share from Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, with the remaining 31 per cent provided by Far North District Council.

In December, Minister of Transport Simeon Brown announced speed limit rules were being amended to remove mandatory requirements for road controlling authorities, such as Far North District Council, to implement speed management plans and remove the deadline to submit these plans by 29 March 2024.

Far North Kahika Moko Tepania says he met with Waka Kotahi officials earlier this month seeking clarification about the current speed limit review. He was assured it should not impact what the council had already agreed on.

However, the council’s planned consultation process for the 2024-2027 Regional Speed Management Plan has been put on hold until further information from the Minister for Transport is available.

“The Bay of Islands-Kerikeri Speed Limit Review was a process that had already been underway for more than 16 months before the new direction from the government, and the funding has already been allocated,” Kahika Tepania says. “It went through a full consultative procedure, and there are many in the community who have been waiting decades to see these changes.”

During a public consultation on speed limits conducted in 2022, 253 submissions were received. These were considered during a formal hearing held in March 2023. Two-thirds of those submissions supported or partially supported new speed limits targeting more than 300 roads in the Bay of Islands-Kerikeri area.

Kahika Tepania says the government’s new directions will likely affect speed limits around schools. He will work closely with council staff to ensure any new signage rolled out is correct.

Far North District Council reviews speed limits on its roads under a catchment-based approach as part of its responsibilities as the Road Controlling Authority. These reviews are undertaken in stages, with each road individually assessed to determine the safe and appropriate speed for its usage and location. Where changes are confirmed, these are often also accompanied by additional infrastructure to support compliance with the posted speed limit, with the intent that the speed limit for any road feels right to the average driver.

The Bay of Islands-Kerikeri speed limit review and previous reviews in other parts of the Far North in the past few years were part of the previous government’s Road to Zero Road Safety Strategy.