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Speed Management Plan

Speed management is about achieving safe and appropriate vehicle speeds on roads that reflect the road’s function, design, safety, and use.

We want everyone to be able to get home safely every time, and to feel comfortable choosing from a range of safe travel options.

As a Road Controlling Authority (RCA) Stratford District Council (SDC) must follow the Government’s Land Transport Rule - Setting of Speed limits 2022. The Rule encourages a network-wide approach to setting speed limits, and also requires Councils to reduce speed limits around schools.

Interim Speed Management Plan: School Zone Speeds

Our Interim Speed Management Plan, which focused on speed limits across our school zones, was endorsed by the Policy and Services Committee in July 2023.

In 2022, we asked for our school communities and people at properties within school zones to share their thoughts around speed limits outside their schools. Using their feedback, we finalised the proposed changes to these speed zones and consulted on these with the wider community.

Thank you to everyone was part of this process over the last 12 months.

New school speed zone limits

We're lowering the speed zones around ten local schools from Monday 6 May 2024 to make it safer for tamariki and rangatahi to get to their kura and back home again.

The new speed limits are fixed, meaning that drivers will need to observe the limits 24 hours a day. This keeps school students, staff, and families safe on the streets outside of drop-off and pickup times.

Variable speed limits, which lower speeds during school drop-off and pickup times only, would have come at a much higher cost for ratepayers, with the price for a single electronic variable speed sign, reaching up to $10,000.

Councillors made the decision to move ahead with fixed school zone speed limits last year before the change in government. Recently, the coalition government announced their intention to have a new Land Transport Rule in place by the end of 2024 that may make it a requirement to have variable speed limits in place for school zones. The government will seek public submissions later this year and council will consider any implications for Stratford district when more information becomes available.

The fixed school zone speed limits from Monday 6 May 2024 are:

  • Avon School - 30km/h (from 50km/h)
  • Midhirst School, Erin Street and Denmark Terrace - 30km/h (from 50km/h)
  • Stratford Primary School - 30km/h (from 40km/h variable)
  • Stratford High School - 30km/h (from 50km/h)
  • St Joseph’s Primary School - 30km/h (from 50km/h)
  • St Mary’s Diocesan School, Pembroke Road West frontage - 30km/h (from 50km/h)
  • Pembroke School, along the crossroad approaches - 60km/h (from 100km/h)
  • Makahu School, Mangaehu Road frontage - 30km/h (from 100km/h)
  • Marco School, Marco Road frontage - 60km/h (from 100km/h)
  • Ngaere School, Cheal Road frontage - 60km/h (from 100km/h)

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency is managing any changes to the speed outside schools that sit on state highways, including Huiakama School, Taranaki Diocesan School, Marco School, Ngaere School, and Toko School.

yellow and blue graphic logo that says speed management

Draft Speed Management Plan: District wide speed limits

In 2023 Council presented a draft Speed Management Plan for community feedback. Since that feedback was received, the Government has removed the deadlines originally set for councils to complete a speed management plan for their districts. The original deadline for a speed management plan was 29 March 2024.

Council staff sought guidance from Elected Members in January 2024 on the next steps in this process, considering the requirement of a speed management plan currently does not exist.

Elected Members were presented with 3 options to consider:

  • Continue with the implementation of the draft Stratford Speed Management Plan as per the work completed in 2023. While not mandatory to continue, Council’s can decide to follow through with their original draft plans if they wish.
  • Wait for the Government to release their new Setting of Speed Limits Rule which determines the process to reduce speeds on local roads. This is what the Minister of Transport advised for councils to do.
  • Do not continue with the draft Stratford Speed Management Plan.

Elected Members decided Option 2 was the best way forward, meaning all work on the draft Speed Management Plan is paused until the new Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits becomes law.

All feedback received in the 2023 consultation process will be taken into consideration when Council makes any future decisions on speed limits in the Stratford district. With the Speed Limit Bylaw Council can address specific speed concerns across the district on a case by case basis.

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