MINUTES

of the

Joint Nelson Tasman Regional Transport Committee MEETING

Komiti Te Kawenga Rohe o Nelson Tasman

held

3.00pm, Monday, 10 March 2025

at

Tasman Council Chamber, 189 Queen Street, Richmond

The video recording of this meeting is available on the Council’s YouTube channel

Present:                   Tasman District Council: Deputy Mayor S Bryant (Chair), Councillor B Dowler and alternates Councillors C Butler and J Ellis

                                 Nelson City Council: Mayor N Smith (Deputy Chair) and alternates Councillors M Courtney and J Hodgson

                                 NZTA Waka Kotahi Representative: Ms E Speight

In Attendance:        Nelson City Council

Deputy Chief Executive/Group Manager Infrastructure (A Louverdis), Transport Analyst (C Pawson), Transport Planner, James Hills

Tasman District Council

                                 Strategic Planning Manager (D Fletcher), Governance Manager (E Stephenson)

Apologies:               Deputy Mayor R O’Neill-Stevens

1        OPENING, WELCOME

The Chair opened the meeting and invited Strategic Planning Manager, Dwayne Fletcher to give the opening karakia.

2        APOLOGIES AND LEAVE OF ABSENCE

Moved Councillor Courtney/Councillor Dowler

NTRTC25-03-1

That the apology from Deputy Mayor R O’Neill-Stevens be accepted.

CARRIED

3        Public Forum

3.1     Parents for Active Transport – Atawhai (PATA)

Emily Osborne and representatives of PATA, spoke regarding the Marybank section of State Highway 6 (SH6). A video and PowerPoint presentation were provided and supporting documents were tabled. These are available on the Council’s website in the Minutes Attachment document.

Ms Osborne spoke regarding the resolutions of the 12 February 2025 public meeting regarding Atawhai SH6 speed limit increases, noting PATA’s:

· concerns regarding the automatic speed increase and request for consultation to occur with the Atawhai community

· request for reconsideration of the road classification at SH6 at Marybank, to change to Peri-Urban

· request for the Committee to write to Transport Minister Chris Bishop and the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) in support of the above resolutions and to  maintain the 60kph maximum speed.

Attachment 1   Parents for Active Transport PowerPoint presentation

Attachment 2   Parents for Active Transport letter

Attachment 3   Parents for Active Transport resolutions

Attachment 4   Parents for Active Transport signatures

3.2     Bicycle Nelson Bays

Bevan Woodward, representing Bicycle Nelson Bays, spoke regarding the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) consultation on reversing the safer limits on SH6 Blenheim to Nelson and tabled supporting information, which is available on the Council’s website in the Minutes Attachment document.

Attachment 1   Bicycle Nelson Bays tabled document

3.3     Nelsust - Kate Malcolm

Kate Malcolm, representing Nelsust Inc. spoke regarding Time of Use Pricing (or congestion charging) and tabled pictures which are available on the Council’s website in the Minutes Attachment document. Ms Malcolm highlighted time wasted stuck in traffic, enhanced productivity if traffic congestion was reduced and sought to introduce Time of Use Pricing to Nelson.

Attachment 1   Nelsust - pictures

4        DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Nil

5        LATE ITEMS

Nil

6        CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES

Moved Councillor Dowler/Ms Speight

NTRTC25-03-2

That the minutes of the Joint Nelson Tasman Regional Transport Committee meeting held on Friday, 6 December 2024, be confirmed as a true and correct record of the meeting.

CARRIED

7        Reports

7.1     New Zealand Transport Agency Consultation on Speeds in Nelson/Tasman

Nelson City Council Transport Activity Management Team Leader, Lyndon Hammond, presented the report.

During discussion, several changes to the officer’s recommendations were proposed and agreed to by the meeting, including:

· Clause 2 - including the Committee write to both the Minister of Transport and the NZTA

· The addition of clause 2.1

· Clause 3 b) - removal of the words ‘at Atawhai and north of Wakefield’

· The addition of two extra key points in Clause 3 b) to be provided if and when feedback is sought on the sections of State Highway 6

· The addition of clause 5 regarding a letter in support of the PATA speed increase resolutions.

Moved Mayor Smith/Deputy Mayor Bryant

NTRTC25-03-3

That the Joint Nelson Tasman Regional Transport Committee

1.   receives the New Zealand Transport Agency Consultation on Speeds in Nelson/Tasman report, RNTRTC25-03-3; and

2.   agrees that the Joint Regional Transport Committee make a submission on State Highway 6 (SH6) speed limits including writing to both the Minister of Transport and the New Zealand Transport Agency; and

2.1   agrees that the Joint Nelson Tasman Regional Transport Committee advocate in its submission for a more analytical and evidence-based approach to the setting of speed limits, assessing the cost and benefits of different speed management options; and

3.   endorses officers developing a submission stating:

(a)  the State Highway 6 speed limits between Blenheim and Nelson were installed to address a crash problem and since their introduction there has been a reduction in crash numbers and severity; and

(b)  if or when feedback is sought on the sections of State Highway 6, the key points to be provided are:

i.    Nelson City Council supports the current 60 km/h speed limit at Atawhai.

ii.   Seeking the retention of 60km/h on the winding sections of the Whangamoa Saddle, the retention of the 80km/h between Atawhai and Hira.

iii   Seeking consideration of raising to 100km/h on the other long straights of the Highway between the Whangamoas and Blenheim, subject to the more analytical approach in clause 2.1, above.

iv   Tasman District Council is comfortable with the current 60 km/h at Wakefield as it strikes a good balance between safety and efficiency; and

4.   delegates the final review and signing of the submission on State Highway 6 speed limits to the Chair and Deputy Chair of the Joint Nelson Tasman Regional Transport Committee; and

5.   agrees that the Nelson Tasman Regional Transport Committee Chair send a letter to both Minister Chris Bishop and to the New Zealand Transport Agency in support of the Parents for Active Transport Atawhai (PATA) Atawhai State Highway 6 speed limit increase resolutions of the 12 February 2025 public meeting at Clifton Terrace School, Nelson, and in support of maintaining the speed limit of 60km/h on the Atawhai section of State Highway 6.

CARRIED

NZTA Waka Kotahi Representative, Emma Speight, abstained from voting on the motion.

7.2     Public Transport Review and Private Share Options

Mr Hammond; Nelson City Council Transport Analyst, Chris Pawson, and Nelson City Council Transport Planner, James Hills, presented the report, highlighting key factors/components for the proposed increases.

It was noted that an additional clause (3) had been added to the recommendation to include the rationale for consultation not being required.

Questions and discussion included:

· Whether the consumer price increase (CPI) was projected or actual

· The actual CPI figure would be confirmed at the 7 May 2025 Committee meeting

· The Councils’ approaches to cost projection

· Staff would be considering improving efficiency and looking at marketing methods going forward.

In response to a question as to how cash fares would be treated, it was clarified that the intention was the same as the previous approach to only increase card fares, and the words ‘Bee Card’ and ‘the latest’ were added to clause 2 of the recommendation.

Moved Councillor Dowler/Mayor Smith

NTRTC25-03-4

That the Joint Nelson Tasman Regional Transport Committee

1.   receives the Public Transport Review and Private Share Options - updated report, RNTRTC25-03-6; and

2.   agrees Bee card eBus fares be increased by the latest consumer price index (CPI), for the 2025/26 financial year, effective from 1 July 2025; and

3.   agrees that consultation is not required as the proposed fare increase is not significant and maintains the real price of fares compared to 2024/2025; and

4.   endorses the following private share targets:

4.   notes that private share targets will be reviewed with the New Zealand Transport Agency as additional eBus usage data becomes available over time.

CARRIED

7.3     NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi Update

Emma Speight provided a PowerPoint presentation which is available on the Council’s website in the Minutes Attachment document and answered questions on the presentation.

Questions and discussion included:

· The Hope Bypass investment case would confirm alignment and phasing of sections

· Dallows Bluff – provisions were being made for school bus access and managing disruption

· National ticketing – the decision whether to be cashless would be for each region, and this would be and workshopped brought back to the Committee

Attachment 1   NZTA PowerPoint presentation

8        CONFIDENTIAL SESSION

Nil

The meeting concluded at 4.44pm.

Confirmed as a correct record of proceedings by resolution on 7 May 2025.

NTRTC25-05-2

That the minutes of the Joint Nelson Tasman Regional Transport Committee meeting held on Monday, 10 March 2025, be confirmed as a true and correct record of the meeting.