Proposed Speed Limit Policy ‘Bad Precedent’

Tuesday, 9 July 2024, 7:51 pm
Article: Brendon McMahon - Local Democracy Reporter

Reversal of speed limit rules under a proposed new Government policy sets "a very bad precedent" for local councils, a West Coast submission says.

The four West Coast councils submission to the Ministry of Transport on the draft Setting of Speed Limits Rule 2024 was approved by the West Coast Regional Transport Committee (RTC) on July 5.

West Coast Regional Council policy manager Max Dickens said the proposed rule quashed the existing role of district councils as local Road Controlling Authorities (RCA).

Under the new policy, they would be only allowed to set variable school speed limits within 200m of the school gate.

"The new speed consultation rule is essentially removing the RTC role," he said.

"Councils control local roads and this level of over reach by central government is a very bad precedent to set."

Mr Dickens said regardless of community support in future for a local speed limit change, beyond a school speed zone, the councils would now be hard pressed to advocate those.

The councils would have to undertake a four week consultation period under the policy including "a bespoke cost benefit analysis" for each case.

"This is an unreasonable amount of work to place on councils, particularly small ones, for a relatively minor change to the roads that they control.

"It also dictates the way in which cost-benefits can be assessed, and severely limits the information that officials are able to utilise."

Mr Dickens said other notable implications included district councils having to roll back safety improvements already implemented with public backing.

"It is extremely wasteful for councils that elected to go further than the minimum requirements with their plans, overrides the will of local residents, and their elected officials."

RTC chairman Peter Ewen suggested that if "the Government decreed that's how it's going to be" then they had little choice but to accept the policy direction.

But Mr Dickens said it presented an opportunity for the three district and the regional councils to "push back together".

The joint submission as presented won the unanimous backing of the RTC.

Mr Dickens said the new rule did not account for local support for new limits, the significant cost of undoing limit work already underway, "and the unnecessary burden the new rule places on councils".

The four councils had previously decided to administer a single regional speed management plan "for the sake of efficiency".

The just consulted plan was "relatively conservative in its approach". It had mainly adhered to the minimum requirements to lower limits around schools.

"The (proposed) rule effectively takes away the ability for council to change the limits on the roads they control as RCAs," Mr Dickens said.

"It does this by placing an extremely unreasonable and disproportionate amount of requirements in the way of councils to set new limits … the consultation document also appears to suggest that all setting of speed limits will effectively come under Ministerial control, which is extremely concerning."

Mr Dickens suggested the West Coast was not alone with large centres like Auckland and Tauranga, and Marlborough, voicing significant opposition.

"It's a completely unreasonable amount of work to pass on to any council."

Mr Dickens told the committee work already done by the West Coast RCAs and the RTP Committee for the 2024 plan revision would now be irrelevant.

"This new rule overrides that."

That included all the provisions already agreed under consultation early in the year.

"It doesn't matter if you are even putting all the signs in already, you are likely to have to reverse them at significant cost."

The office of Transport Minister Simeon Brown has been approached for comment.

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