Mayor changes road sign in his North Island district to stop speeding near school

Matamata-Piako Mayor Ash Tanner thought the speed limit near a local primary school should be lowered, so he did something about it.

Fed up with feuding with the NZ Transport Agency, Tanner changed the speed limit signs from 70km/h to 50km/h himself.

The mayor of the North Island district told Seven Sharp how he pulled the feat off.

“I ended up getting some overlays made, the proper regulation ones with the reflective background.

“I came out with my old ute and put a ladder in the back and climbed up and put the overlays up over the signs to slow the speeds down.”

He says the locals are happy about it after many of them fought to get it lowered with NZTA for years.

Mayor Tanner says he requested an on-site meeting with NZTA some time ago and a person turned up and told him it would cost $200,000 to change the speed limit to 50km/h.

This interaction is what prompted Tanner to take matters into his own hands.

When asked if he has got into trouble over his actions he said, “not yet”.

The mayor also said another NZTA representative has been out to see his handiwork and understood why the community wanted the speed limit lowered.

Seven Sharp’s Jeremy Wells joked the mayor should send NZTA a bill for $200,000 for his work.