Western Bay of Plenty speed limit changes still up to two years away

The speed limit in Te Puke's town centre limit will be lowered to 40km/h. Photo/ SunLive

Lower speed limits are coming for Western Bay town centres, with limits outside rural schools also set to change.

Waihi Beach, Ōmokoroa and Te Puke town centres will have 40km/h limits, unless the current speed is already lower. However, the new limits won’t come into effect for at least 18 months.

State Highway 2 runs through Katikati’s centre, so this limit is governed by NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi and therefore not part of the review.

The new speed management plan was adopted by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council at a meeting on Thursday.

During the meeting, the council debated whether to lower the speed limit to 60km/h or 80km/h outside rural schools. The change would apply outside the variable 30kph limit during peak hours, and wouldn’t apply to areas with current lower limits.

Western Bay of Plenty District councillor Don Thwaites said he favoured 60km/h as many activities took place after traditional school hours of 8.30am to 4.30pm.

“The reality is police are not going to go up there and police this.”

Roads outside rural schools will be limited to 80km/h outside of school pick up and drop off hours. Photo / SunLive

It was up to local residents to follow the speed limits, Thwaites said.

“If the replacement of 60km/h sign means that they might just consider slowing down a little bit past the school ... I think it’s a good thing.”

Councillor Margaret Murray-Benge agreed, saying rural schools are entitled to as much safety as urban schools.

Maketū-Te Puke councillor Andy Wichers said the 80km/h limit “would be more appropriate” for rural schools.

However, councillor Rodney Joyce said he was concerned with the debate about putting in a 60km/h limit, but not expecting people to follow it.

“The police won’t police it, we don’t expect to follow it, so let’s just do it anyway. I don’t think that’s good governance.

“We shouldn’t be encouraging people to break the law, basically by saying we’ll put this speed limit in place, but actually it doesn’t really matter.”

Joyce was in favour of a case-by-case basis for schools.

Councillor Don Thwaites wanted limits outside rural schools to be 60km/h. Photo / John Borren

“People won’t follow 60km/h outside rural schools.”

However, Thwaites said this “was complete nonsense.

“We’re not encouraging people to break the law at all. We’re appealing to their common sense.”

He said he was pointing out that from a “sheer practical point of view” police can’t be everywhere.

“We’re actually appealing to the vast majority of sensible people to actually just slow down.”

Deputy mayor John Scrimgeour, who favoured the 60km/h limit, gave the example of Te Ranga School in Te Puke that had issues with speeding.

“Since there has been some greater signage up in that area, there has been considerably less concern about the speed of traffic moving past the school.”

The 80km/h limit outside rural schools was adopted by a split vote of six to four.

Councillor Rodney Joyce said people wouldn't follow a 60km/h limit outside rural schools. Photo / John Borren

Mayor James Denyer said the council had “landed in a good place” with the plan.

“We’ve done the best we can in a changing environment from central government. I think we’ve been nimble enough to adapt to those.”

Speed management plans were no longer a mandatory requirement under the new government, but a plan could still be developed to guide the speed limit approach. Consultation on the speed management plan was held in October and November last year, with 197 submissions received.

Director Transportation Calum Mclean told Local Democracy Reporting the limits would be in place within 18 to 24 months.

The plan required the council to further engage with tangata whenua and order the variable speed limit signs.

The council also needed to develop an implementation programme and find a contractor for the work.

The speed limit changes also needed to align with amendments to the National Speed Limit Register to ensure the new speed limits could be legally enforced, said McLean.

The community would be advised of the changes as they occurred.

- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.