Fixing a killer intersection
The intersection in a north Taranaki town where a little girl was killed has had its safety redesign approved by the council.
At an Inglewood Community Board meeting, Marie Pearce had seconded the motion for the intersection upgrade to get it to full council, after it almost lapsed due to lack of support.
In September 2017, Emma Warren, 7, died after a collison with a truck while she was cycling home from school.
On Thursday, the New Plymouth District Council approved the parking prohibitions for the intersection of Miro and Rata streets as well as a host of other parking controls.
The extra yellow-line areas will improve visibility for pedestrians, together with other upgrades planned for the crossing on Miro St.
‘‘We had a very thorough discussion with the Inglewood Community Board, and we had several members of the community there to discuss the lack of parking,’’ councillor Marie Pearce said.
At the community board last month, the motion to recommend the parking restrictions was eventually passed, but for a few moments there was no-one to second it, as only three board members had attended and neither Pearce or Kevin Rowan wanted to agree. Pearce eventually seconded the motion so that it would go before council for further discussion.
‘‘I honestly can’t see any other way of making this corner safer,’’ she said at the time.
On Thursday, the New Plymouth District Council approved the parking prohibitions for the intersection of Miro and Rata streets as well as a host of other parking controls.
At Thursday’s meeting, Pearce told the council that by the end of the meeting, ‘‘everyone was happy and recognised it was a safety measure’’.
‘‘This has been fully endorsed by the community board.’’
At the earlier planning committee meeting, councillors passed new speed management guiding principles which could see school zones going down to 30kmh, local residential streets to 40kmh, and rural roads without additional engineering set at 80kmh, and a comprehensive, district-wide speed limit review.
The decision to become part of a World Health Organisation ‘‘AgeFriendly Community’’ was also passed by the committee, despite councillor Shaun Biesiek saying it was unnecessary, as NPDC already had an age strategy.
‘‘I don’t think we need an organisation to tell us we need to be people-focused, but that’s the way it is,’’ he said.
‘‘Sometimes councils do need reminding about what they should and shouldn’t do,’’ councillor Gordon Brown replied.