Carterton District Council consulted on about 50 speed reductions in 2023 (file photo). Photo: LDR / Emily Ireland
Carterton District Council hope they can pull their speed review out of limbo with a request to the Transport Minister.
The council, which consulted on reducing speeds across the district in 2023, has been unable to implement the proposed changes because of a new transport rule brought in by the coalition government.
The rule required six weeks of consultation and a business case for each speed reduction, which was not previously a requirement at the time the council consulted on its speed review.
Changes in limbo for Carterton included a blanket speed reduction to 80km/h on gravel roads, and speed reductions on about 50 other roads, including outside schools and marae.
South Wairarapa District Council, which had a shared roading programme with Carterton, was facing the same situation.
Infrastructure services manager Johannes Ferreira said council officers had asked the New Zealand Transport Agency to accept the already-consulted on speed plan but were told they could not because the council had no business cases for the reductions and had only consulted for four weeks instead of six.
"The only piece we can implement is around schools and marae which requires adjustment to our plan but not re-consultation," Ferreira said.
"This is a frustration to the team. We put a lot of effort into that [consultation] but the rules are the rules and the feedback is what is it is at the moment."
Councillor Dale Williams said the community was frustrated by the delay.
Although the government had made funding available for councils to re-consult, there was no guarantee Carterton District Council would be successful in its bid, and the brunt of the cost of another speed consultation would be borne by ratepayers, Ferreira said.
He said some councils in New Zealand were in "a worse" position and would be required to reverse speed reductions they had already implemented.
Carterton Mayor Ron Mark said the situation was "bureaucracy gone mad" and the only way the council could implement its already consulted-on plan was to ask the Transport Minister.
Councillor Steve Laurence said the council's proposed reductions needed to be implemented urgently to prevent potential tragedy.
At a meeting on at Wednesday, Carterton councillors were unanimously in favour of writing to the Transport Minister, requesting they be allowed to implement their consulted-on speed reductions.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
