Speed limit decisions makers for local roads changes hands.

Hurunui District Council’s Bylaw that has set the speed limits on Hurunui District roads since 2020, is now history.

Waka Kotahi/NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) will now govern the speeds on all roads throughout New Zealand, subsequently replacing the Council’s current Speed Limits Bylaw 2020.

The decision to revoke the Council’s Bylaw was unanimously agreed to by Councillors at the September 29th Council meeting.

Previous to September 29, HDC as a road controlling authority has been legally required to have a bylaw to set speed limits on all roads within the jurisdiction of the Council other than State Highways, which are controlled by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency.

The legislative changes do not automatically revoke the Speed Limits Bylaw 2020, it is up to each Council to do so.

Council’s Chief Operations Officer Dan Harris said the advantage of revoking the Council’s own Bylaw is that it ensures there is only one authoritative source of law on speed limits.

Throughout New Zealand, all councils will migrate their speeds over to the National Speed Limit Register (NSLR), which will now form the legal instrument for setting new speed limits.

It is an online register with a geospatial map providing speed limits on New Zealand’s roads.

“All existing speed limits will continue in force, as they are recorded in the NSLR,” said Harris.

Future infrastructure investment decisions and speed management decisions will be made through a speed management planning process, aligned with the regional land transport planning process and the three-year cycle of the National Land Transport Programme.

One key future requirement under the new structure will be for reduction of speed limits around all schools by 31 December 2027, with an interim target of 40% of schools by 30 June 2024.

“The environment for the speed outside each school must be right,” said Harris, identifying that Hurunui District has a mix of rural and urban schools, on roads which vary in speed limits.

The changes to legislation also mean that the community will not need to be consulted for future speed changes. A Council Officer will be given delegated authority by the Chief Executive Officer to make speed limit submissions to NSLR. This will likely be tied into the Long Term Plan and the Activity Management Plan.