The first round of speed limit reductions in the Far North, in the Ōkaihau area in 2021, sparked a backlash with virtually all new signs along Wiroa Road vandalised.
Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf

A Northland council appears to be on a collision course with the government over moves to reduce speed limits on local roads.

The Far North District Council is currently on the home straight of a long-running speed review project, which has seen limits on many hundreds of roads around the district changed since 2020.

In most cases the limits have decreased – typically from 100km/h to 80km/h on rural roads, or 60km/h if the road is unsealed or in a built-up area – while a handful have increased.

New speed limit signs have gone up around Kerikeri in recent weeks, sparking a storm on social media and strongly worded statements from the government.

Northland MP Grant McCallum said he was “very concerned” the council was going ahead with its latest round of speed limit reductions, affecting more than 300 roads in the Bay of Islands.

McCallum said the government was currently drafting a law to reverse all “blanket” speed limit reductions around the country since 2020, so the council was wasting ratepayer money and staff time.

“National won a mandate to get rid of the illogical blanket speed limit reductions that Labour forced onto New Zealanders. I spent a significant amount of time on the campaign trail talking to Northlanders who were plainly fed up with being slowed down when trying to travel on our roads,” he said.

However, Far North mayor Moko Tepania said no blanket speed limit reductions were being imposed in the Far North, and he was confident most changes complied with the government’s draft law.

“This was not a blanket approach. Each road was assessed against a number of factors including road geometry, surrounding land use, and presence of vulnerable road users. Any speed limit changes were finalised following full consideration of public feedback obtained during the consultation processes,” he said.

Tepania said the Bay of Islands-Kerikeri Speed Limit Review had been underway for more than 16 months before the new direction from the government, and the funding had already been allocated.

“It went through a full consultative procedure, and there are many in the community who’ve been waiting decades to see these changes,” he said.

He said 253 submissions had been received, 64 percent of which were in support.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown’s office did not respond to a request to clarify what the government meant by blanket speed reductions.

McCallum said the draft rule the government was working on would require speed limits that had been reduced since 1 January 2020 to be reversed on local streets, arterial roads, and state highways.

“Once approved, the rule will ensure that when speed limits are set, economic impacts and the views of local communities are taken into account, alongside safety.

“I know that Northlanders want to see these reductions reversed immediately – and we wish we could, but we have to go through a proper consultation process with councils and Kiwis,” McCallum said.

McCallum said the transport minister wrote to the council on 12 December, alerting them to the government’s plans and urging them to put the speed review on hold.

Tanya Proctor, the council’s head of infrastructure strategy, said none of Northland’s three district councils had taken a blanket approach to speed limit reductions.

Instead, each road had been assessed individually and speed limit changes had only been finalised after each council had considered public feedback.

Proctor said the government’s draft rule specifically proposed reversing any speed limit reductions since 1 January 2020 on local streets with widespread 30km/h speed limits around schools; arterial roads; and rural state highways.

State highway speed limits were the responsibility of NZTA, and she believed the “vast majority” of council roads did not fall into the two other categories.

An exception could be speed limits around schools. The draft rule proposed replacing any 24-hour 30km/h limits around educational facilities with a variable limit that took effect only when children were travelling to and from school.

The current Kerikeri-Bay of Islands speed review had cost about $800,000, with NZTA Waka Kotahi funding 69 percent and the council the remaining 31 percent.

Proctor said the cost of reversing any speed limit changes would not be known until the government’s draft rule was finalised.

Consultation is now starting on speed limit changes in the Russell area.