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Ashburton Council Won’t Join Legal Action Over Speed Changes
Ashburton's mayor says the council has no plans to join legal action over the government's speed limit increases.
A safe transport advocacy group is taking the government to court in an attempt to stop speed limit reversals from going ahead.
Movement, an alliance of national organisations that support safe and accessible active transport, is seeking an injunction to stop the speed limit reversal process before a judicial review of the rules is considered.
Transport Minister Chris Bishop announced plans to reverse the former Labour government's speed limit reductions in January.
The government's plan is for 38 sections of state highway, including through the Rakaia township, to be automatically returned to the previous higher speed limit by July 1.
Movement had lodged an application for judicial review of the decision by the Minister of Transport to make the Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits 2024 (2024 Rule) on January 16.
Movement contacted all local road controlling authorities on February 17 to advise them of the application.
In a minute issued by the High Court last month, Justice Dale La Hood said any road controlling authorities (including district and city councils) had until March 20 to file an application to join or intervene in the proceedings.
Ashburton Mayor Neil Brown said the council received the correspondence from Movement and wouldn’t be joining the legal action.
“It was an agreed decision (Mayor and staff) that we won’t join the action as we are already engaged with NZTA directly and seeing good progress with the discussions on the speed limit changes that affect us here in the Ashburton District.”
A NZ Transport Agency spokesperson said the agency has been joined as an additional respondent to the judicial review proceeding, by Movement.
"We are assessing our options, and NZTA will be represented when the application is heard. As the matter will soon be before the courts, no comment will be provided on the application."
-LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
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