The rural Tasman community of Upper Moutere is renewing its plea for a shared path to be built in the village after a child was hit by a car on Monday.
A $400,000 shared path, linking the centre of the village and the community centre 1.3km away, was originally slated to be constructed in the first quarter of 2025.
However, in October Tasman District Council deferred construction until the 2025/26 financial year because assumed funding from the New Zealand Transport Agency wasn’t granted after the Government slashed walking and cycling funding.
On Monday, a local child was critically injured in the village centre after being hit by a car.
Though the incident occurred just outside the area to where the shared path would have extended, it has exemplified safety concerns about pedestrian-access and speed limits in the small community.
“It was right in the village centre, so we’ve seen the real consequence of the sorts of decisions that we make in times like this,” said Moutere Hills Residents Association chairman Nathan Silcock.
Silcock on Thursday morning, supported by many Upper Moutere residents who filled the council chamber, presented to the elected members on the topic.
“The impact on council is inevitable but the impact on us and the significance to us is huge.”
The issue has been swirling for about two decades and was labelled as the district’s “highest priority” proposed path more than five years ago.
“The only time the council appeared to move quickly throughout this process was when the delay happened,” Silcock said.
In the meantime, there was nowhere safe in the area to walk, and the lack of a footpath was having a “significant” impact on disabled members of the community.
“Our community feels forgotten and unimportant.”
A decision on the shared path will be put before elected members again on December 11 and Silcock urged councillors to re-commit to constructing the path in early 2025.
“Please keep our community safe and connected.”
During his presentation, Silcock also commented on the speed limit in the area.
Currently, the Moutere Highway is 100km/h, though the section that runs through the village is 50km/h.
Silcock said that more than 300 residents had signed a petition seeking the highway reduced to 80km/h with speed through the village lowered further to 40km/h.
The region’s speed management plan, agreed to jointly by the Nelson City and Tasman District Councils, would have seen the 100km/h sections of the Moutere Highway lowered to 80km/h.
The change was due to occur in January 2025. However, the Government’s new rule for setting speed limits invalidated the council’s work on lowering several speed limits across the district.
Tasman is now planning to re-consult on lowering the speed limit on the Moutere Highway in the first quarter of 2025 with changes hoped to be implemented in the third quarter.
The Moutere Highway is a high-risk rural road. Crash data from between 2014 and 2023 for a stretch of the road recorded three fatal, 18 serious, and 80 minor crashes.
In the council’s original, now-invalidated consultation that was conducted last summer, 93% of submitters who referenced the Moutere Highway wanted to see speeds reduced.
A 40km/h speed limit through the centre of the village doesn’t align with the guidance set out in the Government’s rule.
Variable speed limits outside of schools, including Upper Moutere School where Silcock said speed was an “ongoing” concern, must have variable speed limits implemented by July 2026.
The plea to the council was made during public forum, where elected members typically can’t respond to presentations. However, Silcock and the other attendees were invited by the mayor to the December 11 meeting where the issue will be put before the council again.
Local Democracy Reporting is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
