Could fixed speed cameras return to Hawke’s Bay after almost a decade?

A fixed speed camera in Meeanee Quay in Pandora, Napier, taken down during the speed camera purge of nearly a decade ago. Photo / NZME

It has been eight years since Hawke’s Bay last had a fixed speed camera snapping lead-footed motorists — now, plans to roll out more cameras throughout country may result in them returning to the region.

It comes as a local road policing manager says the speed cameras Hawke’s Bay does have — mobile cameras — certainly help improve road safety by acting as a deterrent for speeding drivers.

Police, Auckland Transport and Christchurch City Council operate speed and red-light cameras nationwide, and the transition of that entire network to NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi is under way.

An NZTA spokesperson said there were about 150 “safety cameras” nationwide and the agency would add 50 more by mid-2025, about a third of which will be fixed speed cameras.

A chunk of those new cameras has been announced for Auckland and Northland, but NZTA is yet to decide where 27 of the cameras will be, and has not ruled out putting a fixed camera in Hawke’s Bay.

“The locations of [the remaining cameras] are yet to be finalised,” the NZTA spokesperson said.

The agency has also hinted at plans to substantially expand the nationwide network beyond mid-2025.

“Over time, the plan is to increase the number of safety cameras throughout the country,” the spokesperson said.

“We are still deciding on the number of cameras and mixture of camera types to use, to deliver the most effective outcomes.”

Safety cameras include fixed (or static) speed cameras, mobile cameras, red-light cameras, and point-to-point (average speed) cameras.

The last time Hawke’s Bay had a fixed speed camera in operation was in 2016, according to police.

Eastern District road policing manager Angela Hallett said mobile speed cameras were in operation in the region, and “absolutely” helped improve road safety.

Eastern District road policing manager Inspector Angela Hallett. Photo / Warren Buckland

“We have our mobile cameras in Eastern District,” she said, of cameras that are moved around the region often in vans.

“It is one of the ways of having an impact on driver behaviour, in combination with a whole lot of other factors.”

She said those mobile cameras would be deployed this year near schools with variable speed limits, among other roads.

Officers also have speed radars and will continue to issue tickets to speeding drivers.

International research has also shown static speed cameras can reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured in road crashes by 15 per cent, according to NZTA.

One-hundred and twenty-six people died on Hawke’s Bay roads in the seven years until fixed speed cameras were removed from the region, while 128 people have died in the seven years since.

Hawke’s Bay’s most recent fixed speed cameras were in Pakowhai, Karamu and Kennedy Rds, and Meeanee Quay, but were removed because they were old-generation cameras and did not meet the criteria for the new cameras in high-risk areas.

Gary Hamilton-Irvine is a Hawke’s Bay-based reporter who covers a range of news topics including business, councils, breaking news and cyclone recovery. He formerly worked at News Corp Australia.