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A North Otago community’s efforts to improve safety in their town and reduce speed limits has paid off.
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) recently announced new speed limits had been approved for parts of Hampden State Highway 1 (SH1) and State Highway 8 in Ettrick, Otago.
Located 6.4km north of Moeraki, with a population of about 410, it has an average of 4712 vehicles move through it per day.
Its location on SH1 and its row of shops and cafes makes it an often used stop-off for truckies and tired motorists, but the busy road cutting the township in half has been raised as a safety concern for residents.
For Hampden, the changes will bring about reductions in speed limits from 80kmh to 70kmh from Lancaster St to Shrewsbury St, and from 60kmh to 50kmh from Shrewsbury St to Nottingham St.
Waitaki MP Miles Anderson supported a submission by local business owners and the community to the NZTA to have the speed limits reduced in the main and northern part of town last year.
“Common sense won out in the end,” Mr Anderson said after the changes were announced.
“The community is really pleased and it’s nice to see the progress of the work as you’d imagine it should be.
“The community rallied, advocated and lobbied the NZTA and they got the changes they were after, which is really, really good — and I was pleased to be a part of that.
The feedback provided to the NZTA in consultation on speed limits often vastly outnumbered the locals, Mr Anderson said.
“Well done to the Hampden community — people need to be aware that similar consultations are happening now around the Glenavy speed limits also on SH1, so they need to engage.”
Business owners of nearby shops and cafes, and vocal residents including Jennifer Black, Stuart Barnes and Al Nicholson, who regularly spoke out about the road safety concerns, were supported by Waihemo Community Board members, Waitaki district councillor Frans Schlack and local police to reduce the speed limits.
While some residents still remained concerned about the speed limits, particularly in Norwich St near Hampden School and the safety of schoolchildren where trucks had accessibility, Mr Anderson said it was a case of “one step at a time” to resolve any further speed limit issues.
The Waitaki District Council agreed in April to explore options to build an additional carpark on council-owned land next to Hampden School, in Norwich St, to address safety concerns raised by numerous community leaders.
The many issues with road safety in the rural town included different speed limits at one end of the town to the other, double parking by trucks and vehicles and then impaired visibility and risks to vehicles pulling back out on to SH1 when trucks were double-parked or travelling at speed.
A council spokesman said the council worked with NZTA to establish no-parking zones along London St, with the council responsible for no-stopping lines at the road entrances to Hampden Hall and the Boulders Bar & Bistro in May.
“NZTA was responsible for wider no-parking markings along the northbound section of State Highway 1.
“Carparking is planned to be retained as a part of this,” the spokesman said.
Constable Neil Rushton, of Hampden, said the changes to the speed limit were “long overdue”.
“The changes are really, really good.
“We were seeing near misses every day with pedestrians crossing the road due to the gradient north and south.
“All the residents here are looking forward to this change; it will make crossing the road and getting out of intersections a lot safer,” he said.
Const Rushton said while the NZTA report showed some feedback that people preferred to keep the speed limits as they were in order to reduce their travel time, that did not outweigh the safety concerns.
“With the evidence we provided to NZTA, that was only going to be another 10 seconds of travel on to their journey, which isn’t a lot at all.
“These changes will make it safe for everybody — not just the residents, but everyone that stops in Hampden.
“The Night ’n Day, the pub and Vanessa’s Cafe, and the fish and chip shop, all of these places are widely renowned for being good places to stop and having that speed limit dropped by 10kmh will make a difference,” he said.
While the Hampden community submitted in May 2025, NZTA’s consultation took place from November 27 to January 27.
Online, the NZTA said the changes would support safer local access and better reflect how those roads were used.
“The approved speed limits were assessed as the most appropriate for each section of road, reflecting the surrounding land use, how the road is currently used and the requirements of the Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits 2024.
“New reduced, more consistent speed limits will help address driver confusion, potential safety risks for pedestrians, particularly children crossing the road near parked trucks, and respond to long-standing community feedback,” it said.