BULK truck and trailer units driving past the Wharekura on Ōpārure Rd are a concern for the community which wants the speed limit past the Wharekura lowered to 40km/h.
A CALL to lower the speed limit down from 80km/h past the marae, wharekura and kohanga reo on Ōpārure Rd was presented to the Waitomo District council last week by residents concerned about safety issues. There are caused by fully laden truck and trailer units from the Graymont quarry further up the road, and car drivers who leave the road on the bend by the wharekura. Representatives of Ngāti Kinohaku have petitioned the Waitomo District Council to lower the speed limit on Opārure Rd in front of Te Wharekura o Maniapoto and the Kōhanga reo. Speakers from a delegation supporting the petition at last week’s council meeting said not only is the current speed limit dangerous and unsafe for tamariki, but the condition of the road also continues to be of concern. The petitioners want the speed limit to be 40km/h. Wharekura principal Denise Marshall said residents and businesses of Ōpārure want the speed limit outside the marae and the wharekura and kohanga reo lowered to reduce the risk of crashes associated with turning in and out of the wharekura and marae. They also want improvements made to make it safer for pedestrians, recreationists (the Te Araroa Trail is on part of Opurure Rd) and cyclists using Ōpārure Rd. Denise said the council had known for years that the road near the wharekura was built on a swamp, which led to the problems with slips and slumping. “We know that every two years there are major works done for that slip there, but actually it’s just a plaster,” she said. “So we need to look at how best fits the purpose of all of us there.” Gary Paki said the village was there before horses came. Their ancestors walked through there. Horses, carts, cars, and now multi-tonne trucks were passing through what was once their walkway. “You see it as a road, many of us walked and played along that road as our ancestors did. So our walking track has become a highway. We have concerns about that,” he said. A nearby slip was the result of the road crossing a swamp, he said. “A swamp is a living thing, it has water, there have been efforts to try to block the water off from continuing its path to the river and that’s why the road is slumping all the time.” Local Māori advised the road builders in the 1950s to build a bridge, and not to try and put a road across the swamp. He said there were a lot of accidents. “And when that road slumps there are accidents, and I have pulled many cars and trailers out from going over the bank, going into the bank. At the wharekura corner we, the residents of Ototoika Rd ask that the council help us to maintain that road. The answer was it was not a council-formed road.” He disagreed, believing records were lost in a fire at the council. The result was it left the locals looking after their road. They put in culverts but in heavy rain a lot of stones washed over the corner the wharekura had to use for its entrance and exit. Gary suggested a bridge was the best solution, especially as Graymont had applied for a 100-year extension to its quarry operation. “It’s quite large the tonnage that crosses that road, it’s probably like the main road and that’s going to carry on,” said. Just filling the slumping back up to the desired height was not going to work in the long term. “I think we have all watched that road every two years work its way down, and council contractors come and build it up again,” John Robertson said. It was something the council would take up proactively. There would also be a discussion with Graymont about the speed of the lime-filled truck and trailer units. “We do have to get permission from NZTA even to adjust speed limits on our own roads,” he said. Fixing the road would take longer as a bridge would require the support of government funding, John said. He said chief executive Ben Smit would come back to the council with recommendations on the next steps.
