Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Local Focus: 20 year campaign to lower speed limits in Mourea finally successful

Nathan Morton
By Nathan Morton
Multimedia Journalist·NZ Herald·
8 Jul, 2020 01:03 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Lower speeds mean less road deaths in rural Rotorua. Made with funding from NZ On Air.

After campaigning for more than 20 years, residents of Mourea and Okere can now enjoy a safer main road through their communities, with the reduction of speed limits.

There's been a number of serious crashes on the roads around the rural Bay of Plenty towns and residents had had enough.

"Actually I can remember when I was a kid, about 9 years old, a horrific crash on this very corner," Phill Thomass, chairman of the Rotorua Lakes Community Board, said standing on the side of State Highway 33.

"A tanker rolled over. I remember it because there was a small child trapped in the truck for hours on end.

"Ever since I've become involved in community issues, going back nearly 20 years now, it's always been the desire of this community to see the speed limit reduced on this road and see more safety for pedestrians."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Many local residents have been involved over the years including Jim Stanton.

"During the course of that community consultation, it was revealed by our communities in Mourea and Okere Falls that speed reduction was a primary concern of those communities, he said.

The original 70km/h limit through Okere and Mourea has been lowered to 60km/h, and the distance of that limit has been extended.

In addition, some 100km/h limits have been reduced to 80km/h, including Rotokawa Rd, a busy road just near Rotorua Airport.

Local iwi played a major role in campaigning for the speed reductions.

"We can celebrate this success, because originally Safe Roads (NZTA) didn't have speed on their books," Roland Kingi, a representative of Ngāti Pikiao, said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We tried many times, when we started in 2016, to try and get it on the table so we can discuss it and move it on."

"We had many meetings with NZTA to help lower the speed, lot of korero went on," Tania Turner, administrator of Te Pou O Taranui said.

"A lot of korero went on and we actually formed quite a good relationship with NZTA."

NZTA said that changes to speed limits can take a while due to the complex legal process required.

Discover more

New Zealand

Local Focus: The East Coast explained

02 Jul 10:26 PM
New Zealand|politics

Local Focus: Latest Code of Conduct complaints received by Taupō Council

02 Jul 08:13 PM
New Zealand

Local Focus: The Rotorua electorate explained

15 Jul 03:00 AM

But there could be further changes coming.

"We're looking to review some of the urban speed limits on State Highway 5 and State Highway 30," Steve Mutton, spokesman for NZTA, said.

"Between 2009 and 2018, there was 629 crashes on a bit of road between just south of the Hemo Rd roundabout, and along State Highway 30 to south of Rotorua Airport.

"In that corridor, six people were killed and 26 were seriously injured, so it's really important that we do look at these as well."

Mourea residents aren't convinced that the process should have taken as long as it did.

"It is one of the longest. We've had several [processes]," Stanton said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I guess it's the persistence and perseverance of the community in trying to get a lot of these things implemented, has borne fruit, which is great."

"We've had many casualties, fatals, along our road," Turner said.

"Some of our children being hit by vehicles. We still have a long way to go, now that our speed's been reduced. Now we have to teach the culture of the driver.

"Sometimes the road is to blame, most times it's not."

Made with funding from

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post

'Safety risks': Concerns as hospital security guards double as cleaners

05 Jul 10:45 PM
Rotorua Daily Post

Bid for inquiry into Ōhinemutu sewage spills fails

05 Jul 06:00 PM
Rotorua Daily Post

Man admits having $20k of stolen goods in mysterious arson case

04 Jul 06:00 PM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

'Safety risks': Concerns as hospital security guards double as cleaners

'Safety risks': Concerns as hospital security guards double as cleaners

05 Jul 10:45 PM

Security guards at two rural hospitals have been doubling as cleaners on the same shift.

Bid for inquiry into Ōhinemutu sewage spills fails

Bid for inquiry into Ōhinemutu sewage spills fails

05 Jul 06:00 PM
Man admits having $20k of stolen goods in mysterious arson case

Man admits having $20k of stolen goods in mysterious arson case

04 Jul 06:00 PM
Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

Farmer's harrowing hours crushed beneath tractor

04 Jul 02:00 AM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP