Far North District Council under fire for reducing speed limits despite government mandate

Far North District Council has reduced the speed limit along Kerikeri Rd from 80km/h to 50km/h. Photo / Jenny Ling

A Northland council that “wasted” over $250,000 reducing speed limits will now have to spend more ratepayer money to reverse its work.

Northland MP Grant McCallum said he was “very concerned” Far North District Council [FNDC] is going ahead with plans to change speed limits on 300 roads in the Bay of Islands, including Kerikeri.

FNDC knowingly pushed ahead with the speed reductions despite the Government’s plans to reverse the previous Government’s mandated blanket speed limit reductions.

The FNDC will now have to reverse them, McCallum said.

“Not only do they lack a proper mandate to do this, but once our rule is in place they legally will not be able to go forth with this proposal.

“It is a waste of ratepayer money and council time for no good reason.

“They will be told they’ll have to reverse them.

“It’s our policy and there will be a directive.”

Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced in December the Government planned to reverse mandated blanket speed limit reductions introduced under Labour.

In June, he made public the new draft Transport Rule requiring speed limits that had been reduced since January 2020 to be reversed on streets, arterial roads, and state highways.

However, FNDC voted to push ahead with its speed management plan for the wider Bay of Islands area, which includes more than 300 roads in Kerikeri, Waipapa, Ōpua, Paihia, Waitangi, Haruru Falls and Whangaroa.

The changes cost $800,000, of which 69% is funded by NZ Transport Agency [NZTA] and 31% by FNDC.

In July, the Northern Advocate reported the council was seeking advice on whether it must change the speed limits after Brown reiterated the reversals were mandatory.

Landing Rd, Kerikeri is now 40km/h following changes by Far North District Council, which will likely have to be reversed. Photo / Jenny Ling

Lately, new signs with reduced speed limits have popped up around Kerikeri township, including a 50km/h limit along Kerikeri Rd.

The council confirmed it had rolled out changes in Kerikeri-Waipapa, Haruru, Paihia, Ōpua and the southern rural roads in the Bay of Islands-Whangaroa Ward catchment.

Those yet to be implemented include Kerikeri urban periphery, Whangaroa, and northern rural roads in Bay of Islands-Whangaroa Ward.

Council head of infrastructure strategy Tanya Proctor said the council planned to complete its rollout, as “none of the remaining proposed speed limit changes will be impacted by the Government’s proposed reversal of set speed limits”.

Each road had been assessed individually and any speed limit changes were implemented following public feedback, she said.

Council staff were are currently reviewing the Government’s draft rule.

“Once the speed rules are finalised by the Ministry of Transport, the council will consider the implications of the new rules across all the catchments that have been completed.”

McCallum said the blanket speed limits referred to any “widespread” speed reductions.

He said he had been getting a lot of feedback from residents “very upset with sudden changes, which are illogical”.

Northland MP Grant McCallum said he is very concerned the council made the speed limit reductions despite a government mandate.

“What it shows is the level of consultation wasn’t adequate.

“No one is objecting to lowering the speed limits around schools, but some others are frustrating people.

“If this was so well consulted on, why is there so much pushback?”

Mayor Moko Tepania said the council’s Bay of Islands-Kerikeri speed limit review “was a process that had already been underway for more than 16 months before the new direction from the Government, and the funding has already been allocated”.

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

McCallum said he understood there “wasn’t much engagement” with the community.

“The opportunity [for public consultation] might have been there, but most people don’t get involved in something unless it hits them in the eyes.”

Jenny Ling is a news reporter and features writer for the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering roading, lifestyle, business, and animal welfare issues.