Speed limit plan 'fanatical': mayor

A plan to lower the speed limit in Whakatāne district towns to 30kmh has been described as fanatical by mayor Victor Luca.

"I have no problem with a 30kmh limit near schools, which seems sensible. I am not in favour of a 30kmh limit around urban Whakatāne," Mr Luca said.

Residents have until July 30 to have their say on Whakatāne District Council’s speed management plan, which includes lowering speed limits to 30kmh on urban residential streets sometime between 2024 and 2027.

"The safety management plans that Whakatāne District Council has come up with are at the urging of Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency and it is they that have placed some quite tight guidelines that don’t give [the council] much room to manoeuvre," he said.

"Waka Kotahi are showing a level of fanaticism and idealism that I am not convinced is going to yield significant results.

"They are trying to reduce deaths and injuries to zero in the cheapest way possible, by slowing us down to a snail’s pace."

Under legislation introduced in 2022, the Transport Ministry has laid down a framework for councils throughout New Zealand for setting speed limits in their districts.

The framework states speeds must be reduced to 30kmh for areas around schools and school travel routes, and 30kmh to 40kmh for local urban streets.

Speed limits of 40kmh to 60kmh were allowed for urban connector streets linking residential areas.

By Diane McCarthy