Tēnā koe Minita Bishop,  

I am writing to you as the local MP for Rongotai, on behalf of residents and organisations in the community of Berhampore who want to keep safe and appropriate speeds limits. I am joined by five affected community organisations, schools, rest homes, and retirement villages who have signed this letter.
Officers at the Wellington City Council have advised councillors that the new Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits 2024 requires them to raise the speed limit from 30kph to 50 kph on sections of streets that run through the heart of this community. Adelaide Road: from #498c to #535; Rintoul Street: from #11 to #77; The Parade: from #1 to #32.
This issue is of the deep concern to the community. The streets where speeds are required to be raised are adjacent to care homes for the elderly, a hospital, several early childhood education centres, and include key crossing routes for two primary schools and an intermediate school, as well as residential homes and a few businesses.
This part of Wellington has high levels of walking, biking and public transport use. To access the bus, people cross these roads. When parents drop their children at school by car, sometimes they need to cross the road on foot as well. When a vehicle is travelling at 50kph, it requires a longer stopping distance. When pedestrians, particularly children or the elderly are struck by a motor vehicle travelling at 50kph, the risk of serious injury or death rises to 80%, while it is only 10% at 30 kph. The value to the community of a lower speed environment is that it is safer for the majority of people travelling in this area, and raising the speed limit would not meaningfully benefit motorists.
All three changes would have negligible impact on overall journey times for those people using motor vehicles, because they are only for a few blocks. Motorists will still need to slow down for pedestrian crossings, traffic lights, round-a-bouts, and the areas where there are shops in Island Bay and Berhampore. Instead, the increase will likely result in motorists speeding up and slowing down at several points, rather than maintaining a consistent speed throughout.
The speed limit changes to 30kph were consulted on and have been well supported by the community. In a recent consultation taken from 12 September – 8 October 2023, 69% of submitters believed it was “important or very important to change our streets to make it safer and easier for people to walk, ride, scooter, or use public transport” (7). Parents at Berhampore School have told me they feel safer letting their children walk to school since the speed limit has reduced. Many intermediate students walk, bike, scooter or take the bus to SWIS intermediate school, and their journeys will be affected and made riskier by these proposed speed changes.
On behalf of the community, we ask that you amend the Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits (2024) so that Wellington City Council, and indeed any other Road-Controlling Authority in a similar position, is not forced to raise speed limits where the current 30kph speed limits are working well and supported by the community.
Many ratepayers have also shared with me that they do not want their rates to be used to change speed limits where they are working well for the community. WCC have advised that raising speed limits will cost $150,000 in total (120): a high price for changes that the community do not want. 
I am happy to meet with you to discuss this issue.