Hawke's Bay speed limit surprise: SH51 reverts to 100km/h overnight
Linda Stewart, the director of regional relationships, NZTA, said that the change had been made in line with the Setting of Speeds Limits Rule 2024 (the Rule).
'The Rule legalises the Government's expectation that speed limits on New Zealand's roads will be managed in a way that supports economic growth, boosts productivity, and enables people to get to where they are going quickly and safely,' she said.
However, Stewart made it clear the speed limit is the maximum speed and not the target and anyone caught speeding by police can be expected to be pulled over.
Sitting on SH51 is Hōhepa, a business and residence that supports people with intellectual disabilities. Ruth Malone has two adult children at Hōhepa and said she was surprised by the change to 100km/h, believing it wouldn't go up until July 1.
NZTA said in January that speed limit changes happening as part of the rule would be implemented by July 1, 2025.
Malone said if Hōhepa was a school 'we wouldn't even be having this discussion'.
'The guys have to have an intellectual disability to get cared for by Hōhepa, so you've got a lot of people without much road knowledge in place, so it's no different to a school,' she said.
Malone said NZTA's lack of communication about the date the speed limit was frustrating.
She had written to MPs Catherine Wedd and Katie Nimon, and Minister for Transport Chris Bishop.
'I got a blanket response from Chris Bishop saying that that's all the Labour speeds that were put down that 'we're putting back',' she said.
'It's almost Trump-ish you know, with him going 'whatever Biden did, we're reversing', well they're saying the same sort of stuff.'
Labour Transport spokesperson Tangi Utikere said National made a 'gimmicky election promise without listening to the communities affected by speed limit rises' and are 'failing to read the room when it comes to what the country wants'.
Napier MP Kaite Nimon said National campaigned on the the speed limit reversal and the new speed limits would 'boost economic growth and productivity – allowing people and freight to get to where they need to, quickly and safely'.
Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke's Bay Today and spent the last 15 years working in radio and media in Auckland, London, Berlin, and Napier. He reports on all stories relevant to residents of the region.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scoop
an hour ago
- Scoop
New Poll: Labour Becomes Largest Party, Economy Top Concern
Press Release – New Zealand Taxpayers' Union The Economy more generally is the most important issue to voters at 20.2 percent (+3.7 points), followed by the Cost of Living at 18.1 percent (-8.3 points), Health at 11.9 percent (-5.0 points) and Employment at 5.8 percent. Bad news for National in the latest Taxpayers' Union-Curia Poll as Labour would now be the largest party in Parliament, gaining three seats to 44. The Coalition would still just about cling on to power on these numbers. The poll, conducted between 07 and 09 June shows National drop 1.1 points on last month to 33.5 percent, while Labour are up 1.6 points to 34.8 percent. ACT is down 0.4 points to 9.1 percent, whilst the Greens are down 0.9 points to 8.2 percent. New Zealand First also drops 1.3 points to 6.1 percent, while Te Pāti Māori is down 0.6 points to 3.3 percent. Headline results and more information about the methodology can be found on the Taxpayers' Union's website at For the minor parties, TOP is on 1.8 percent (+1.3 point), Outdoors and Freedom is on 1.1 percent (+0.7 points), New Conservatives are on 0.7 percent (+0.7 points) and Vision NZ on 0.6 percent (+0.2 points). This month's results are compared to the last Taxpayers' Union-Curia Poll conducted in May 2025, available here at The combined projected seats for the Centre-Right of 62 is down 1 seat from last month. The combined seats for the Centre-Left is up 2 seats to 60. On these numbers, the Centre-Right bloc could still form a Government. National remains on 42 seats again this month, whilst Labour is up 3 seats to 44. ACT is unchanged on 12 seats, whilst the Greens are down 1 seat to 10. New Zealand First drops 1 seat to 8 seats, while Te Pāti Māori remains on 6. For the first time since October 2024, Cost of Living has been replaced as voters' top issue. The Economy more generally is the most important issue to voters at 20.2 percent (+3.7 points), followed by the Cost of Living at 18.1 percent (-8.3 points), Health at 11.9 percent (-5.0 points) and Employment at 5.8 percent. Commenting on the results, Taxpayers' Union Spokesman James Ross said: 'Labour taking the lead and growing concern over the economy should be a worrying sign for the Government in the first Taxpayers' Union-Curia poll since the Budget. Voters are losing faith in the managed decline on offer.' 'With inflation finally under heel, cost of living has slipped off the top spot for the first time in over three years. But lower interest rates don't make a sound economy on their own.' 'The so-called Growth Budget's only pro-growth policy offered a 1 percent boost to GDP over 20 years, spiralling debt and no credible pathway back to surplus.' 'Growth wins votes, stagnation doesn't.'
Scoop
6 hours ago
- Scoop
New Poll: Labour Becomes Largest Party, Economy Top Concern
Bad news for National in the latest Taxpayers' Union-Curia Poll as Labour would now be the largest party in Parliament, gaining three seats to 44. The Coalition would still just about cling on to power on these numbers. The poll, conducted between 07 and 09 June shows National drop 1.1 points on last month to 33.5 percent, while Labour are up 1.6 points to 34.8 percent. ACT is down 0.4 points to 9.1 percent, whilst the Greens are down 0.9 points to 8.2 percent. New Zealand First also drops 1.3 points to 6.1 percent, while Te Pāti Māori is down 0.6 points to 3.3 percent. Headline results and more information about the methodology can be found on the Taxpayers' Union's website at For the minor parties, TOP is on 1.8 percent (+1.3 point), Outdoors and Freedom is on 1.1 percent (+0.7 points), New Conservatives are on 0.7 percent (+0.7 points) and Vision NZ on 0.6 percent (+0.2 points). This month's results are compared to the last Taxpayers' Union-Curia Poll conducted in May 2025, available here at The combined projected seats for the Centre-Right of 62 is down 1 seat from last month. The combined seats for the Centre-Left is up 2 seats to 60. On these numbers, the Centre-Right bloc could still form a Government. National remains on 42 seats again this month, whilst Labour is up 3 seats to 44. ACT is unchanged on 12 seats, whilst the Greens are down 1 seat to 10. New Zealand First drops 1 seat to 8 seats, while Te Pāti Māori remains on 6. For the first time since October 2024, Cost of Living has been replaced as voters' top issue. The Economy more generally is the most important issue to voters at 20.2 percent (+3.7 points), followed by the Cost of Living at 18.1 percent (-8.3 points), Health at 11.9 percent (-5.0 points) and Employment at 5.8 percent. Commenting on the results, Taxpayers' Union Spokesman James Ross said: "Labour taking the lead and growing concern over the economy should be a worrying sign for the Government in the first Taxpayers' Union-Curia poll since the Budget. Voters are losing faith in the managed decline on offer." "With inflation finally under heel, cost of living has slipped off the top spot for the first time in over three years. But lower interest rates don't make a sound economy on their own." "The so-called Growth Budget's only pro-growth policy offered a 1 percent boost to GDP over 20 years, spiralling debt and no credible pathway back to surplus." "Growth wins votes, stagnation doesn't."
Otago Daily Times
7 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Poll shows Labour ahead of National, but coalition keeping power
Labour would be the largest party in Parliament - but the coalition would still cling on to power, according to a new poll. The latest Taxpayers' Union-Curia poll - the first the firm has conducted since the budget - sees Labour leapfrog National in popularity and parties outside parliament making slight gains. Party vote: Labour: 34.8 percent, up 1.6 percentage points (44 seats) National: 33.5 percent, down 1.1 (42 seats) ACT: 9.1 percent, down 0.4 (12 seats) Greens: 8.2 percent, down 0.9 (10 seats) NZ First: 6.1 percent, down 1.3 (8 seats) Te Pāti Māori: 3.3 percent, down 0.6 (6 seats) The centre-right would have a combined 62 seats, down one seat from the previous poll. The centre-left is up two seats to 60. For the minor parties, TOP is on 1.8 percent (up 1.3 percentage point), Outdoors and Freedom is on 1.1 percent (up 0.7 points), New Conservatives are on 0.7 percent (up 0.7 points) and Vision NZ on 0.6 percent (up 0.2 points). Preferred prime minister: In the preferred prime minister stakes, both Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins have taken hits, with Luxon staying slightly ahead of Hipkins. Christopher Luxon: 20.3 percent, down 4.2 percentage points Chris Hipkins: 18.5 percent, down 1.5 points Winston Peters: 8.0 percent, down 0.1 points David Seymour: 6.0 percent, down 0.7 points Chlöe Swarbrick: 5.6 percent, up 0.6 points Luxon is down 4.2 points from last month to 20.3 percent, while Hipkins is down 1.5 points to 18.5 percent. The poll was conducted by Curia Market Research Ltd for the NZ Taxpayers' Union. It is a random poll of 1000 adult New Zealanders, weighted to the overall adult population. It was conducted by phone (landlines and mobile) and online between Saturday, June 7 and Monday, June 9 2025. It has a maximum margin of error of +/- 3.1%. Curia is a long-running and established pollster in New Zealand, which has resigned its membership from the Research Association New Zealand (RANZ) industry body. Polls compare to the most recent poll by the same polling company, as different polls can use different methodologies. They are intended to track trends in voting preferences, showing a snapshot in time, rather than be a completely accurate predictor of the final election result.
