Safety and efficiency drives Western Bay's Speed Management Plan

Lower speed limits around schools, rural roads and in town centres is a focus of Western Bay’s draft Speed Management Plan 2023.

Western Bay of Plenty District Council’s plan, now out for public feedback, is in response to Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency’s Road to Zero, the national road safety strategy aimed at reducing deaths and serious injuries from crashes.

Western Bay of Plenty Mayor, James Denyer, says we are a growing and increasingly busy community, and it is important to make sure our roads are safer for everyone.

“As a Council, we want to balance Waka Kotahi’s recommendations for significantly lower speed limits with a pragmatic approach that achieves community buy-in. We want to improve safety on our roads, whilst not excessively hindering their primary purpose, which is to move people and goods around efficiently,” he says.

Western Bay’s draft Speed Management Plan includes:

• A focus on safer speeds around schools, including a variable speed limit of 30kph at the drop-off and pick-up times and 50kph at other times for urban schools and 60kph for rural schools.
• Maintaining a 50kph speed limit in urban areas with the exception of schools, marae, town centres and community identified areas.
• A proposal for an 80kph speed limit in rural areas with the exception of schools, marae, town centres and community identified areas.
• A proposal for town centres in Te Puke and Ōmokoroa to have a speed limit of 40kph. Waihī Beach already has this speed limit and as Katikati’s main road is a state highway, Waka Kotahi has proposed a 40kph speed limit which Council fully supports.
• Prioritising areas with the highest need first in the next three years; including schools, Māori communities, town centres, identified rural roads and community identified roads.

Importantly, where a current speed limit is lower than outlined in the broad categories above, the lower limit will remain. We are not intending to raise any limits.

A range of criteria were used to determine appropriate speed limits for our local roads, including the safe speeds identified by Waka Kotahi, along with community feedback and local knowledge - through the Your Place Tō Wāhi consultation earlier this year, and ongoing kōrero with schools, Māori communities and community boards.

“We listened to the strong community feedback and took this into account when suggesting some lower speed limits. We want to improve the safety on and around our roads, while making sure local people and commercial vehicles can move around our District efficiently,” explains Mayor James.

“These conversations have guided our thinking, but before we go any further and begin to make these proposed changes, we want to check-in with you and see whether we’ve got the balance right? Have we missed anything?”

The Western Bay Speed Management Plan only applies to our local road network. Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency has developed an interim Draft Speed Management Plan for the State Highway network.

Check-out Mayor James’ overview of the draft Speed Management Plan here.

How to join the kōrero

Western Bay’s draft Speed Management Plan is now available for the community to give feedback. Consultation is open until 5pm Thursday 23 November via the following options:

• Online, wānanga ipurangi - head to the Have your Say web page to provide your feedback through our interactive map or survey, visit: https://haveyoursay.westernbay.govt.nz/smp
• Hard copy, pepa mārō – printed feedback forms are available at all library and service centres.
• Email, īmēra – email your feedback to haveyoursay@westernbay.govt.nz