Latest news with #localGovernment
CBC
7 days ago
- Automotive
- CBC
Beaver Dam Bridge has waited for repairs since 2021 — and motorists have waited with it
It's been years since the Beaver Dam Bridge south of Fredericton was reduced to a single lane, and commuters are frustrated nothing has been done to repair it.
RNZ News
09-07-2025
- Climate
- RNZ News
More rainfall for Tasman as northerly moves to bring heavy rain for North Island
There are heavy rain watches for Tasman and much of the North Island. Photo: Screengrab / MetService MetService says there's been more rain for the flood-damaged Nelson Tasman district overnight, with more to come. Two heavy rain watches at the top of the South Island cover the Tasman District north of Lake Rotoroa, and Marlborough northwest of the Awatere Valley. MetService meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane told Morning Report there had been upwards of 50 millimetres of rain in parts of the region in the last 12 hours "Overnight, it was bit of a wet night. Obviously, not quite as wet as we've seen recently certainly," she said. "But in the last 12 hours, in the ranges, but actually most of those areas in Tasman, have seen upwards of 50 millimetres ... and elsewhere, between about 20-40 millimetres. "Definitely quite noticeable numbers that we've seen so far." Makgabutlane said last night was that first wave of the weather expected, and the next big wave was forecasted for Friday, which is moving northerly across the country. She said the difference between this big weather system moving through and the previous one was the speed of it. She expected it to move quite quickly, but while still bringing decent rainfall. On Wednesday, Tasman's deputy mayor said residents should hope for the best but prepare for the worst. The region was recovering from widespread flooding that wrecked homes and farmland. Since the flooding, 15 homes have been yellow stickered and one has been red stickered. They were in the Motueka Valley, Tapawera and Wai-iti. Elsewhere, there are heavy rain watches for much of the North Island. Northland and Auckland are forecasted to be hit earliest, with a heavy rain watch from 6am Friday until 10pm. The Coromandel Peninsula, Waikato and Great Barrier Island can expect heavy rain from 9am Friday until 2am Saturday. There is also a heavy rain watch for Taranaki about and north of the Maunga from 11am tomorrow and it is likely it will be upgraded to an orange warning Thursday morning. MetService is warning of possible streams and rivers rising rapidly as a result of the heavy rain, which could cause surface flooding and slips. A heavy rain watch has also been issued for the Bay of Plenty and Rotorua from 1pm Friday until 5am Saturday. Makgabutlane said other heavy rain watches in the North Island could still be upgraded. She said showers were expected on Saturday, but the bulk of the rain would fall Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
CTV News
09-07-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Heated debate over bike lane pilot project
There were heated moments at city hall as delegates heard feedback on a proposed bike lane pilot project.
The Guardian
07-07-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
London's low-traffic zones ‘cut deaths and injuries by more than a third'
Low-traffic neighbourhoodscut road injuries and deaths by more than a third within their boundaries with no apparent negative safety effect on nearby roads, a study has shown. Based on comparisons of more than a decade of road casualty statistics between 113 London LTNs and other roads that did not have them, the report's authors found that LTNs were associated with a 35% reduction in all injuries, rising to 37% for deaths and serious injuries. In absolute terms, the study concluded, this meant that creating the LTNs prevented more than 600 road injuries that would have otherwise taken place, including 100 involving death or serious injury. On boundary roads, those just outside the LTNs, there was no observable change in the number of casualties. LTNs aim to make smaller residential streets more friendly for walking, wheeling and cycling by using filters to stop through-traffic by motor vehicles. While they have been used in various forms in the UK for decades and are ubiquitous in many European cities, an expansion in their use from 2020 led to pushback from some politicians and parts of the media. A common criticism has been that LTNs simply displace traffic to boundary roads, which become more dangerous. However, studies have found a negligible impact on traffic levels and the new paper, published in Injury Prevention, a spin-off from the British Medical Journal, indicates this is the same for deaths and injuries. Of the 113 LTNs studied, 27 were subsequently taken out. According to analysis by the authors, from Westminster University and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, if the LTNs had not been removed there would have been 116 fewer injuries overall, 16 of which involved death or serious injuries. Across the LTNs as a whole, the authors said, an estimated 613 injuries were prevented, including 100 deaths or serious injuries. The study involved analysing road casualties from 2012 to 2024 on all so-called road links – a sections of road between two junctions – in London, some of which became part of or a boundary to an LTN, while others did not were treated as a control group. This allowed the authors to observe changes within LTNs and also compare them with changes on other road links, to take account of separate, longer-term changes in injury rates, including lower traffic levels during Covid. One phenomenon that was apparent between schemes was that the safety benefits of being within an LTN in outer London seemed notably less than those in inner London. Some outer London schemes have been shown as less successful in reducing overall traffic. Even with such caveats, the results across a relatively large-scale study give supporters of LTNs the ability to argue that they provably prevent injuries and deaths, as has also been shown to be the case for 20mph speed limits in Wales. Although modal filters, the technical name for LTNs, have been repeatedly shown to be effective when implemented properly, negative media coverage of the wave of schemes introduced from 2020 prompted a political backlash, with Rishi Sunak's government pledging to clamp down on LTNs. Sunak's government even commissioned a report on LTNs in the apparent hope it would conclude they did not work. When the report found instead they were mainly popular and effective, it was initially buried. Dr Jamie Furlong from Westminster University's Active Travel Academy, who led the new study, said its findings should reassure policymakers about the schemes. He said: 'LTNs have led to considerable reductions in road traffic injuries inside their boundaries for all road users – from pedestrians and cyclists to drivers. At the same time, concerns about nearby main roads becoming more dangerous aren't supported by the evidence.'
RNZ News
06-07-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Te Waka McLeod facing Peter Moeahu for New Plymouth Māori ward
Quiet conversations and a growing Māori presence in Taranaki councils has brought progress says Te Waka McLeod. Photo: LDR / Craig Ashworth In what might be the last election for New Plymouth's Māori ward, voters will choose between a young māmā ushering in the next generation and an experienced campaigner wanting land returned. Three years ago Te Waka McLeod won Te Purutanga Mauri Pūmanawa ward and on Friday confirmed she would stand again. She faces one opponent so far: kaumātua Peter Moeahu, who has been active in council chambers for decades. More may stand before the four week cut-off but candidates are competing for an uncertain prize. Like almost all Māori wards, New Plymouth District Council's newest seat might be pulled from under the victor after three years, via a government-ordered referendum at October's election. McLeod said the threat steeled her determination that the coming generation will know they belong in local government. "Māori faces at the table are vital so rangatahi can imagine themselves sitting there." "If Māori wards are voted down I worry people might forget how deeply we care about how our communities are run, how all our people and places are cared for." Te Waka McLeod wants the next generation including her son Kahukura to know they belong in local government. Photo: LDR / Craig Ashworth During her first term "quiet conversations and gentle educating" had brought progress, as had Taranaki's iwi liaison committees, other committees with tangata whenua representatives, and Māori staff. "Everybody in the room sees how useful it is." "Non-Māori councillors, staff and voters no longer have to guess what we're trying to achieve together with them." McLeod had a baby in office and wanted to show young parents - especially mums - they could be involved. "I don't need to be the loudest voice in the room. I work on kaupapa aligned with my values and my people and that's how change happens." Peter Moeahu has been a voice for Māori in council chambers for decades. Photo: LDR / Craig Ashworth Peter Moeahu often has had the loudest voice in the room. Across the reigns of five New Plymouth mayors he has stood up for mana whenua in Taranaki's council chambers. He sits on Taranaki Regional Council's Policy and Planning Committee and South Taranaki District Council's Te Kāhui Matauraura. Moeahu said several New Plymouth councillors who had become experienced with iwi and hapū aspirations are stepping down, leaving him worried about candidates from right-wing ratepayer groups and the Act Party. "That's why I'm throwing my hat in the ring," he said. "If this is the last term for the Māori ward I want to be there and face up to whoever they chuck at us." Moeahu wants a specific win: the return of land taken from Puketapu hapū in 1968, with no record of compensation. His grandfather Pehimana Tamati helped established a trust for Mangati E Māori Reserve. A year ago Peter Moeahu brought his great-grandchildren Te Kerei Rangimaia Edwards and Ohia Whatitiri to South Taranaki's Te Kāhui Matauraura, to get the mokopuna used to the council table. Photo: LDR / Craig Ashworth "Three years later, the county council just took the land. Just took it under the Public Works Act." Earmarked for sewerage works, nothing happened beyond the digging of two oxidation ponds Moeahu believes were never used. New Plymouth District Council inherited control and Mangati E is part of Bell Block's Hickford Park and the coastal walkway. In 2022 Moeahu asked for Puketapu's land back , but councillors halted progress to investigate how to deal with the range of Māori land it governs. "There are Māori reserves all around New Plymouth that were set aside for us to live on, for us to prosper on - and they're no longer in our hands," Moeahu said. He wants Mangati back as a priority and precedent. Mangati E block was taken for sewerage works but only oxidation ponds were dug - and likely never used. Photo: LDR / Craig Ashworth "I want to see the finalisation of this piece of land, Mangati E, in my lifetime so we don't leave the situation for the next generation." National's coalition deals with NZ First and Act promise referendums for wards elected by voters on the Māori roll. No other type of ward can be voted down. If voters ditch Te Purutanga Mauri Pūmanawa it cannot be resurrected for six years. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ on Air
