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A controversial speed limit increase through Hatfields Beach has sparked community concerns and raised questions about the inconsistent application of new national rules.
While other towns have successfully retained lower speed limits on key roads, Hatfield Beach residents weren’t given the same opportunity and now face a 70km/h limit on a stretch many say should be slower.
The speed limit on Hibiscus Coast Highway between Ōrewa and Hatfields Beach bridge was increased in June from 50km/h back to 70km/h, following the introduction of the Government’s Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits 2024. The rule mandates a reversal of certain speed reductions made since 2019, but how that rule is applied depends on who controls the road.
Albany Ward councillor John Watson noted the inconsistency of speeds through the suburb.
“From Ōrewa to Waiwera (6.9 km) there are now six different speed limits, it goes from 50-30-50-70-60-80. Along Hatfields Beach, the section where campers, pedestrians, kite surfers and so on congregate, especially during the summer, the speed was raised to 70km/h (this section of road having been changed three times over recent years).
“Ironically, as soon as you pass Hatfields (on to the open road) the speed limit then decreases to 60km/h. So it’s a case of faster where it should be slower and slower where it should be faster,” Watson says.
In other parts of the country, NZ Transport Agency/Waka Kotahi (NZTA) held public consultations and allowed communities to campaign for safer speeds to remain. But Hatfields Beach, where the road is controlled by Auckland Transport (AT), was not eligible for the same process. The result is that towns like Marybank and Wakefield near Nelson kept their 60km/h limits.
A petition signed by 85 Hatfield Beach residents was recently presented to the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board, urging the council to lower the limit back to 60km/h or even 50km/h. Residents say schoolchildren, campers and visitors are forced to dash across fast-moving traffic with no pedestrian crossings or traffic calming.
“I live on this road opposite the bus stop and witness daily how people have to dash across the road between cars travelling at 70km/h,” one signatory wrote. “It was fine before the speed was increased. I’m worried a pedestrian is going to be hit by a car and be harmed or killed.”
AT said it did not want to increase the speed limit but was legally required to do so under the new rule.
“It is important to note that AT does not believe the speed limit change to 70km/h to be either desirable or appropriate; however, we are legally obligated to implement this change,” AT’s Speed Management programme director Andrew Garratt said.
AT confirmed it intends to revisit the limit, but couldn’t do so until after July 1, when it was legally able to do so. The new rule includes additional requirements to produce a cost benefit disclosure statement (to be included in consultation information) and undertake a public consultation for a minimum of six weeks.
“Based on the level of public feedback received since the speed limit reversal occurred, we intend to undertake initial data collection for the cost-benefit work and seek local board endorsement to consult on re-lowering the speed limit later in the year,” an AT spokesperson said.
However, Watson said the process was convoluted and contradictory given that NZTA has already made decisions elsewhere to keep lower speed limits on roads they administer in response to community demands.
“What’s actually required is some timely common sense not a bureaucratic morass that is costly and frustrating to residents just wanting a safer section of road by an increasingly busy beach. While not of its making, AT should now just get on and do what it has to in response to the concerns of locals.”
Hatfield Beach resident Alistair Owens said although the higher speed is a significant issue, it was exacerbated by the lack of pedestrian crossings. If the speed couldn’t be lowered for now, he called for the council to at least install crossings and traffic calming measures to protect people on the busy road.
“School kids have to navigate the full width of the road to get to their buses, and there are only fragments of footpaths. If we had some traffic islands and a proper crossing, then it would help mitigate some of the issues,” he said.
In the meantime, Owens said they will continue pushing for change and urged drivers to slow down voluntarily through Hatfields Beach until common sense prevailed.
