Created in response to a land transport rule passed by the previous government in 2022, the Queenstown Lakes District Council’s speed management plan 2024-27 was being drafted as a district-wide review of speed limits on local roads, with speed limits set around all schools by 2027.
The new government’s 100-day plan included a promise to stop "blanket" speed limit reductions, which Transport Minister Simeon Brown moved to do in December last year.
At the time he said he was working to ensure the rule removed "nanny state" regulations aimed at slowing drivers down and was focused on targeted safety measures.
Although a public submissions process took place in October last year, a scheduled presentation of the QLDC’s plan’s final draft to the council for adoption in February never eventuated.
When approached by the Otago Daily Times, a council spokesman confirmed the QLDC had "delayed progressing its speed management plan following the change in government".
"There are a number of proposed changes included in the draft released for consultation in 2023 that are likely to be impacted by the government’s change of direction.
"We’re working through how that will be reflected in our local approach to speed management."
Although the council did not have a confirmed timeframe for its next move, this would likely follow the government’s new setting of a speed rule this year, the spokesman said.
In December, Mr Brown revealed the coalition government was removing mandatory requirements for road-controlling authorities to create and submit speed management plans before a deadline of March 29, 2024.
"This will allow work to begin on a new rule to ensure that when speed limits are set, economic impacts - including travel times - and the views of road users and local communities are taken into account, alongside safety," he said at the time.
In an update last month, Mr Brown said work on a new speed rule was ongoing but would be put up for public consultation in the coming months and signed into law before the end of the year.
The council spokesman said the QLDC intended to legalise some speed changes for projects that were already under way, including reduced limits on Queenstown’s Beach St, Park St and Gorge Rd.
The QLDC would also review speed limits "in some areas where there has been high public concern raised to Council through the recent public consultation", he said.
