Ōhope surf instructor petitions for speed limit cut after dog dies

Surf school owner Ollie Dobbin sees near misses every day he is teaching on West End Road. Photo / Troy Baker

Having a Jack Russell dog, hit by a distracted driver, die in his arms sparked Ōhope surfing instructor Ollie Dobbin to start a petition to lower West End Rd’s speed limit.

“I picked Maggie up off the road after she got run over,” Dobbin said.

“She died in my arms. It was a wake-up call.

“The driver wasn’t looking at the road, so it wouldn’t have made a difference if she was a dog or a toddler.”

As owner and operator of Salt Spray Surf School, Dobbin spends a big part of his time on the grassy dune beside the 1.3 kilometre, no-exit coastal road, popular with surfers and holidaymakers.

“The near misses that we see all the time are countless,” he said.

Maggie lived across the road from the surf school.

“She was the coolest dog ever.

“She would get all the rats out of the dunes and would come across the road all the time because she was so friendly. She became a part of the surf school over the summer.”

Briar Goldie and Ollie Dobbin are advocating for traffic safety measures on West End Rd.

Dobbin addressed Whakatāne District Council’s Infrastructure and Planning Committee on Thursday to ask for a section of the road to be reduced to 30km/h, and 10km/h for the turn-around area around the toilets.

He spoke on behalf of West End resident Briar Goldie, who had helped compile a report but was unavailable.

They were also seeking traffic calming measures.

“It’s not just lowering the speed limit,” Dobbin told Local Democracy Reporting.

He would like to see similar safety measures, as have been implemented on the 30km/h section of Muriwai Drive near The Heads, such as judder bars and planter boxes to narrow the road.

He said the 50km/h limit combined with roadside parking and the area’s popularity with beachgoers created clear safety risks.

Table shows a list of local roads on which Whakatāne District Council is proposing speed limit changes.

“The surf school alone attracts between 5000 and 6000 people a season, many of them children. They have to cross the road when they come to us because there are toilets across the road.”

The report included a petition signed by more than 100 residents and regular visitors to the popular surf beach over 10 days, and comments gathered from residents.

Feedback from West End residents showed 90% had experienced cars speeding on the road, while 95% had witnessed distracted drivers and 70% had witnessed near misses.

“Because it is a coastal road, every driver looks at the ocean,” Dobbin said.

“In our safety briefing we say to every kid that comes to our classes, ‘surfers are terrible drivers because they’re always looking at the beach’.

“If the surf’s good and you’re driving down this road that follows the beach the whole way, you’re distracted all the time.

“Obviously there’s some self-responsibility there, but there’s some easy measures to implement that will make it safer and that’s what should matter.”

He said he had not heard any feedback against lowering the speed limit. As it is a no-exit road there would be no issue with through-traffic being inconvenienced by the lowered speed.

“There were a few people that said they would only like speed restrictions in certain areas or in certain ways. There was a 5% response from people who haven’t seen any issues.

“We’ve seen investment [by the council] into making people stay here. The decks, the shower, the toilets, the freedom camping site, but there’s been no consideration of the speed limit. There’s a disconnect there.

The table shows a list of local roads on which Whakatāne District Council is proposing speed limit changes.

“If nothing is done, something is going to happen. It’s not a matter of if, its a matter of when, and as someone who’s here all the time, I’ll most likely be the one here as the first responder.”

West End Rd is one of 17 roads throughout the Whakatāne district the council is in general agreement should have speed limit reductions.

The council plans to begin consulting with the public on making speed reductions on these roads at the end of April.

They will also consult on five further roads proposed for lower speeds, which the council has not achieved consensus on.

The council approved the consultation document at Thursday’s meeting and also voted to delegate final approval of speed limit setting to a five-member subcommittee.

Councillors Julie Jukes, Gavin Dennis, Ngapera Rangiaho, Wilson James and Andrew Iles offered to sit on the committee with Mayor Victor Luca as ex-officio member.

- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.