A Nelson principal is “really happy” with a ministerial U-turn on speed limit consultation and was “cautiously hopeful” that the speed limit on the state highway near his school might stay at 60kmh.
Residents might soon be given the opportunity to submit on a potential speed limit increase in northern Nelson after they were told two weeks ago the change would be automatic.
On 29 January, the Government announced that dozens of sections of state highway around the country which had seen speed limit reductions over the previous 5 years would be reversed while many others would be consulted on.
One of the automatic increases included a 1.8km section of Queen Elizabeth II Drive/State Highway 6 that runs past the suburb of Marybank, which was slated to increase from 60kmh to 80kmh.
But Transport Minister Chris Bishop backpedalled on the automatic reversal during a visit to the region last Friday after a strong outpouring of community support for the lower speed limit.
“I’m aware of the issues here, and I’ve had a bit of correspondence about it,” he said in response to questions from the media. “[The New Zealand Transport Agency] will be looking at that, and I’ve asked them to engage with local community around that.”
Clifton Terrace School is located just two dozen metres from the state highway and principal Rob Wemyss had called the reversal “a backward step”.
He was “really happy” with the ministerial U-turn and is “cautiously hopeful” the speed limit might stay at 60kmh.
“Lots of people were very disappointed,” Rob says. “The general feeling in this community is that the stretch of road… is a huge safety issue.”
Labour MP Rachel Boyack says she is “pleased” by the development and was not surprised by the Minister’s statement given the “overwhelming” opposition to the automatic reversal.
“My office was absolutely inundated from people who were really angry and concerned about the change.”
She thinks the decision to “pick and choose” which sections of state highway were automatically reversed, and which would go out for consultation was “really odd” – especially regarding the Marybank section where the rest of SH6 from the suburb through to Woodbourne in Marlborough was also being consulted on.
“Going through a consultative process would have been the right thing to do, probably for all of the roading networks.”
James Hodgson, Nelson City Council’s liaison councillor for the Atawhai area, had urged the Minister to consult on that speed limit before the Government’s announcement two weeks ago.
He describes the section past Marybank as an outlier and thinks it’s “fantastic” that there might be consultation, highlighting the community’s campaign to lower speeds through the area several years ago.
“To reverse it without giving people a chance to speak up would’ve been a huge mistake.”
While the debate around speed limit reductions was hotly contested, his observations were that having a lower speed through Marybank was uncontroversial for residents.
“We do the same through communities like Havelock and Rai Valley. This is really no different to that.”
How the consultation might look is still up for debate however, with the NZTA consultation document saying the Marybank section of SH6 “must automatically reverse without the need for public consultation”.
An NZTA spokesperson acknowledged the community concerns regarding the reversal and said that the Government’s rule for setting speed limits allowed the agency to undertake speed limit reviews where they align with the rule and there is strong community support.
In the meantime, NZTA urges people to send their concerns and suggestions to speedmanagement@nzta.govt.nz which can inform future speed limit changes.
If NZTA is able to open consultation for the Marybank section of SH6, residents are urged to make a submission.
“We've won the first part of the battle, but not the whole battle yet,” Boyack said.
A meeting a Clifton Terrace School at 7pm on Wednesday 12 February is going ahead, where the community will be able to hear more about and discuss the situation.
The Minister also said that an 800m stretch of Whitby Road/SH6 in Wakefield would be consulted on as well, despite that section also being slated for automatic reversal.
