Rotorua mayor, rural school principal call for national 40km/h school speed limit

A rural school principal, who fears it will take a child's death for a speed limit reduction outside his school, has prompted a new call for a standardised 40km/h school speed zone across the country.

Lake Rerewhakaaitu School principal Rick Whalley is frustrated at a so-far unfulfilled request for a speed limit reduction outside his school.

However, the council says it is in the process of reviewing speed zones outside schools in the district and proposed speed limit changes are likely to go out to public consultation early next year.

Whalley believes it will take the death of a child for the council to implement a 40km/h speed limit on the local road - currently 70km/h - outside his school, and is calling for the implementation of the reduced speed limit outside schools nationwide.

"It's really a no-brainer. Lower the [speed limit] so our kids are safe."

In mid-2019 Lake Rerewhakaaitu School pupils lobbied the council to reduce the speed limit in front of the school to 40km/h during school hours and through Rerewhakaaitu village from 70km/h to 50km/h.

Whalley said the school was "vigilant" but if an excited child ran to their parent across the road, it could easily end in tragedy.

He said the council had proposed flashing signs indicating the 70km/h speed limit to drivers but that did not go far enough.

"If it's 70ks and you slow down to 70ks, hey - I'm still doing 70ks.

"What's the difference between kids in town and kids out here? If it's good for the schools in town it's good for the schools round here.

"A kid is a kid."

Whalley "absolutely" supported a standardised national speed limit outside kura and schools of 40km/h.

Road safety charity Brake NZ director Caroline Perry said the government's move to cut speed limits to 60km/h outside rural schools was "still too fast" and supported local calls for lower speed limits outside schools of 30km/h and 40km/h.

She also supported safe crossings and pedestrian and cycling routes into schools.

"Other measures such as improved signage and parking around schools can also help to improve safety, but speed is a key part of the safe system approach and must be a priority."

Te Riu Roa NZEI president Liam Rutherford said the teachers' union did not have a specific policy on whether there should be a national standardised approach to speed limits around schools, but it did frequently hear about worried school communities asking for reduced speed limits "specific to their circumstances".

"When that happens, we'd really like to see local authorities listen and move quickly. The safety of our children is everything to us."

A Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency spokesperson said the Ministry of Transport was developing the Tackling Unsafe Speeds programmes, and one of the priorities was to transition to lower speeds around schools.

For urban schools, the speed limit was to be 30km/h, with 40km/h acceptable in "certain situations", and the maximum speed outside rural schools would be 60km/h. These would require a law change, likely to happen next year.

The spokesperson said there was a defined legal process for setting or changing speed limits "in order to ensure transparency, consistency and safety".

Decisions on speed limits - made by either Waka Kotahi overseeing state highways, or councils overseeing local roads - were guided by the national speed management guide and had to comply with the land transport rule: Setting of Speed Limits, which set out the roles and responsibilities of Waka Kotahi or councils in reviewing and setting speed limits, the spokesperson said.

Rural Community Board chair Shirley Trumper said it was important to see rural kids "acknowledged as just as important as our urban kids".

"If I said bureaucracy moves slowly that's probably being polite. There are things that I wish could have moved faster."

She said Waka Kotahi had a process to get a change gazetted, which was the main challenge.

"Council officers have a role to play in how fast it's delivered, but again it comes down to the policy and procedure and there is not always a will to make it happen in a timely fashion."

Trumper said she wanted to see a 40km/h standardised school speed zone across the country, limited to certain peak school times.

Council infrastructure manager Stavros Michael said speed limit reviews were undertaken by the council every three years, and one was under way at the moment, including Lake Rerewhakaaitu School and other rural school zones.

Michael said council officers would seek approval from elected members early next year to begin community consultation on proposed speeds.

So far, the council had met with stakeholders, including each school principal to identify schools' priorities.

There had been desktop and site assessments including independent analysis of data from each school and traffic data collection, he said.

The Rural Community Board would fund the installation of warning speed signs outside Waikite Valley School, Broadlands School and Lake Rerewhakaaitu School, and billboards with speed messaging would be installed near rural schools in time for the first school term next year, he said.

Michael said there were no rural schools in the Rotorua district with 40km/h speed zones, but roads outside Sunset Primary School, Ōwhata School and Mokoia Intermediate had 40km/h variable speed limits.

Implementation of any speed limit changes - if they were agreed to - would likely be paid for within the council's 2021-31 Long-term Plan and the 2021-2024 Waka Kotahi funding rounds.

"The cost of implementation will depend on the amount of physical works required for a specific school."

Rotorua Mayor Steve Chadwick said a national standard school speed zone "would make total sense".

She said the speed limit changes the council was working toward "do take some time".

"We're all often frustrated by the legislated processes councils have to follow to get the outcomes communities need, but I am assured staff are progressing this work and that Rerewhakaaitu School is a priority."

She encouraged the school to "keep working constructively with council staff".

Chadwick said the Lake Rerewhakaaitu School pupils who lobbied elected members were "instigators of change" as their calls for action at their school had extended to other schools.

"[They] can be very proud of that. They put a lot of effort into ensuring they were heard - and they were."

On Wednesday, Transport Minister Michael Wood put a dampener on the calls for a nationally standardised approach to school zones.

"I don't think a one-size-fits-all approach is right given the different needs of communities."

He said the government wanted to make streets safer so parents and children felt confident to walk or cycle to school safely, and the Road to Zero programme was aimed at making it easier for councils to set safer speed limits.

"I expect councils and Waka Kotahi to work with communities and schools to find the safest and most appropriate limit for outside any particular school.

"The 40km/h speed limits outside urban schools and 60km/h for rural schools is a maximum and the plan for busier routes is that lower speeds would mostly operate during drop-off and pick-up time only."

National Party rural communities and associate transport spokesperson Barbara Kuriger said some standardisation may make sense.

"But a one-size-fits-all policy will take some thought as we have a range of schools from very busy State Highways through to very remote rural schools.

"Peak times are also a factor."

She said she was due to meet with Trumper next week to discuss the rural schools road safety review.

"We will engage with this group to ascertain their thoughts, undertake any further consultation and then discuss further as a caucus."

Local Democracy Reporting is a public interest news service supported by RNZ, the News Publishers' Association and NZ On Air.