By David Hill, Local Democracy Reporter
Hurunui district councillors have expressed frustration at the loss of local decision making in the region which includes the North Canterbury town of Amberley. Photo: North Canterbury News / David Hill via LDR
Hurunui councillors have expressed their dismay at more decision-making going to Wellington.
The council in North Canterbury reluctantly voted to revoke its speed limits bylaw at Thursday's meeting.
The decision followed the introduction of the new Setting of Speed Limits Rule 2022 by Transport Minister Michael Wood earlier this year.
Chief operations officer Dan Harris said the new rule meant the bylaw was now obsolete.
The district's speed limits were now recorded in the National Speed Limits Register.
Councillors expressed concern this was another example of decision making being transferred to Wellington.
''It's another one of those top-down documents,'' Mayor Marie Black said.
Harris said the council could still consult with the community on speed limits and make submissions to Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency.
The new rule required councils to use "reasonable efforts" to reduce speed limits around all schools by 31 December 2027.
Harris said the expectation was a 30km/h speed limit for urban schools and 60km/h for rural schools.
Councillor Michael Ward said he did not understand the rational of having different speed limits between urban and rural schools.
"Are our children worth less than urban children?"
The interim target was 40 percent of schools having the speed limits in place by 30 June next year.
Retiring councillor appointed as district licensing committee chair
Retiring councillor Michael Ward has been appointed as a commissioner to the district licensing committee.
Councillors made the decision at Thursday's meeting.
The council passed a resolution at its June meeting to retain the existing district licensing committee members until the 2025 local government elections.
But Ward, the committee chairperson, had subsequently decided to retire from the council.
In a report to the meeting, district licensing committee secretary Kathryn O'Loughlin said appointing Ward as a commissioner would allow the committee to continue utilising his experience.
The decision would be reviewed in 12 months.
The other committee members were Mayor Marie Black as deputy chairperson, councillor Pauline White and independent member David Kidd.
Councillors voted to allow the Culverden Domain, Waikari Reserve, Hawarden Domain and Amberley Beach campgrounds to debt fund upgrades to their facilities.
Earlier this year the council was successful in obtaining funding from the government's Tourism Infrastructure Fund (TIF) to improve campground facilities.
The TIF can be used to cover 50 percent of costs.
The Hurunui River Mouth, Scargill Motunau Reserve and Balmoral Reserve campgrounds were able to fund their share of costs without taking on debt.
Harris said it was still to be decided whether the Motunau Beach Reserve campground would take up the funding, as there were concerns for the amount of enhancements and costs applied for.
Some concerns were raised at how the campgrounds would be able to pay off their loans, as no business case was presented in the report.
The risk of vandalism was another concern.
But Harris said the campgrounds all ran at a surplus.
"The campgrounds and the local community committees have agreed to the debt, so I have confidence in their knowledge of their finances and the support at their campgrounds.
"We could have provided more detail in the report, but it's impossible for us to estimate how much extra business they will get."
The councillors who supported the motion said their local community committees were going in "with their eyes open".
Harris said the council had partnered with Kiwicamp, which was an established player in the camping industry, to get a better outcome for the campgrounds.
Councillors voted at Thursday's council meeting to recommend to the incoming council to move its meeting day from Thursday to Tuesday.
Chief executive Hamish Dobbie said the main reason for the change was to accommodate regional and national meetings held on Thursdays and Fridays, which the mayor and chief executive, in particular, were expected to attend.
The report recommended full council meetings be held on the last Tuesday of the month, with other meetings held on other Tuesdays in the month.
It also recommended the new council establish three primary committees - operations, strategy and community, and audit and risk.
Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air