Safer speeds around the district – protecting our most vulnerable

Ōpōtiki District Council is seeking feedback on its Interim Speed Management Plan to make travelling around the district safer for everyone, especially the district’s most vulnerable road users.

Council’s Asset Manager, Dale Clarke, said that all road controlling authorities in New Zealand are required to prepare Speed Management Plans and seek community feedback on proposals. Because the Bay of Plenty Regional Speed Management Plan was still some way off, the Interim Plan will allow council to make some changes to keep people safer right now.

“New rules introduced last year are aimed at making sure all New Zealand roads have safe and appropriate speed limits that better match a road’s design, purpose and use, while also reflecting activities and places beside the road – like schools. It’s part of the national Road to Zero strategy to minimise road death and trauma - in a crash, speed is the one of the main factors in determining your chance of survival or likelihood of serious injury.”

“We know that this will be welcomed by many people in the community. Some have been asking for changes in their areas for a few years and this is our opportunity to get those speed changes in place and reduce the risks for all road users,” Mr Clarke said.

The changes in this Interim Plan initially focus on areas where there are many of the most vulnerable road users around schools, kura, several marae and high pedestrian use areas with other risk factors like parking, cyclists and mixed use (primarily the Ōpōtiki town centre).

“This is a great opportunity to improve Ōpōtiki’s terrible road safety statistics as we sit among the most at-risk communities in the country across a wide range of measures. In particular, our district has the highest personal risk rating in the country for pedestrian involved crashes.

“So we have been working with schools and some marae committees that have road-facing areas to come up with this Interim Plan. Now we are asking the wider community for their views to add to the mix before this plan can be adopted,” Mr Clarke said.

People can provide their feedback on the council website, in an email, in paper form or they can discuss the Plan in more detail at a drop-in session which will be held Friday 7 July 2023 at Te Tāhuhu o Te Rangi between 10am and 1pm.

“We have started working with our neighbouring councils across the Bay of Plenty to develop a Regional Speed Management Plan which will set forward a transition to safer speed limits across the district over 10 years from July 2024.

“We’ll continue to meet with stakeholders to help shape this next work. Public are also welcome to provide some early input on this bigger plan or share any areas of concern,” Mr Clarke said.