Council adopted this amendment to the Palmerston North Traffic and Parking Bylaw on 31 May 2023.
We're introducing restrictions on some streets around Palmy where street racing is causing disruption and damage. This amendment to our Traffic & Parking Bylaw comes into effect on 1 August 2023.
We received 296 submissions during the consultation and people made more than 1,000 comments through our social media channels.
Our proposal
We’re proposing to place restrictions on some streets around Palmy where frequent street racing activities are causing disruption and damage. Currently the police are unable to take action unless they catch someone breaking the law during these gatherings. While Council has limited options to discourage this behaviour, we are proposing changes to a bylaw to help give police more tools to deal with it more effectively. We’d like to hear what you think about this.
Street racing is causing problems. We’ve been looking for solutions
We’ve had many complaints about the actions of street racers reported to us and the police in the past year. Issues highlighted by frustrated members of the community have included significant levels of noise and disruption along with damage to roads and property. While the tools Council has to respond to this problem are limited, and in some cases very costly, we want to enable the police to respond effectively to these concerns. After looking through a series of options we’ve decided to include a light motor vehicle prohibition in our Traffic and Parking Bylaw for specific roads and streets in our city.
We’re proposing to stop light motor vehicles from gathering in some areas
The proposal means that cars, utes, and vans considered light motor vehicles under the definition given in the bylaw will be prohibited from being on certain streets, identified in the bylaw administration manual. The restrictions will apply between 10pm and 4am every day of the week, unless they are there on legitimate business.
Penalties would range from $150 for each infringement, with a maximum penalty on conviction of $1,000. If the behaviour continues, police will then be able to impound the cars involved.
Why we are proposing these restrictions
Not only does the behaviour of groups of street racers cause disruption for residents and the public, it costs ratepayers a significant amount to repair and clean up the damage and debris they leave behind. The reason we’re proposing to amend the Traffic and Parking Bylaw is to give the police a way to deal more effectively with this behaviour. This amendment will enable the police to issue infringement notices to vehicles congregating, which will be in contravention of the regulations established through the bylaw.
These restrictions will only affect certain roads
We are proposing to include a clause in our Traffic and Parking Bylaw that prohibits light motor vehicles from being on specific roads between 10pm and 4am Monday to Sunday.
The proposed streets are:
- Bennett Street
- Birch Way
- El Prado Drive
- Makomako Road
- Malden Street
- Valor Drive
- Works Road.
These streets have been selected after consultation with the police due to the frequency of street racing activities happening there. Other streets may be considered for inclusion in future, in consultation with the police. Traffic devices or engineering solutions have also already been installed on some roads.
The amendments being proposed aim to support road safety and protection of the environment by:
- Prohibiting Light Motor Vehicles (those weighing less than 3,500kg) from being operated on specific roads during certain hours.
- Limiting the times the prohibition is in effect to between 10:00pm – 4:00am every day of the week.
- Installing signs that detail the restrictions.
- Enabling the police to issue infringement notices for gathering of light motor vehicles in locations identified in the Administration Manual to the Bylaw.
- Excluding from the prohibitions those vehicles with genuine reason to be on identified roads.
More information can be found in the Statement of Proposal.
These restrictions won’t apply to residents and their visitors
Legitimate day-to-day road users will not be affected by this proposal as the restrictions would not apply to them.
Exclusions to the proposed restrictions are set out in proposed clause 10.4. Exclusions include those who own property or live on the streets in question, their visitors, those who are on the road with legitimate reason (such as a maintenance service, taxi or Uber) or those who have received a prior exemption from Council.