Puruatanga Rd, Martinborough was the scene of a fatal accident on Thursday. Photo: Kate Judson
The Martinborough road where a person died in a fatal crash on Thursday is one of many subject to a proposed speed reduction.
A year ago, local district councillors warned delaying proposed changes could impact community safety, but a yo-yo between road safety approaches by governments of the time left South Wairarapa's speed review in limbo.
As a result, dozens of speed limit reductions proposed and consulted on two years ago have never come into force.
Puruatanga Rd in Martinborough, where one died on Thursday and three more were badly hurt, was currently posted at 100kph, but the council had consulted on lowering this to 60kph in June 2023.
In October 2023, a new coalition Government was elected and a new approach to setting speed limits was proposed. This included the reversal of speed limit reductions since January 2020 on local streets, arterial roads and state highways.
It thrust the council's speed review into limbo, while the Government reframed Land Transport rules.
At a meeting last March, South Wairarapa district councillors voiced frustration that safety improvements to their roading network were halted. Deputy Mayor Melissa Sadler-Futter said delaying the proposed changes had an impact on community safety.
The Land Transport rules were brought into force three months ago, but because council road signs were not in force at the time, the approved speed management plan could not be implemented.
The new rule required six weeks of consultation, instead of the previously acceptable four weeks, and the requirement for a cost-benefit analysis for each speed change.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, Sadler-Futter said there would "no doubt come a time to reflect, review and consider possible changes to avoid a repeat of this terrible tragedy".
"Today is not that day," she said. "Today is for wrapping our arms around all those that are hurting, all those impacted.
"Today is a day for coming together as a community."
At a Martinborough Community Board meeting on Thursday night, elected members acknowledged the families of those involved in the crash.
Chair Storm Robertson said it was "too raw to get involved in any discussion" on the proposed speed review.
Council chief executive Janice Smith said the council was working under the direction of the police and would "not be going anywhere near that conversation, until the police have issued their incident report".
Under the Labour Government's Road to Zero approach, the council put its speed review on hold until the New Zealand Transport Agency confirmed its decision on Wairarapa's state highway speed limit, which was lowered to 80kph and returned to 100kph last month under the Coalition Government.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
