I’m encouraging everyone who has an opinion on the State Highway 1 speed limits north of Rakaia township to share their thoughts with NZ Transport Agency.

The government agency is currently consulting on the stretch of highway that includes the Rakaia River bridge and the overhead rail bridge and asking people if the speed limit should be the new 80km/h or the old 100km/h.

You may remember that the speed limit dropped to 80km/h last year, at the same time as the speed limit through Rakaia township dropped to 50km/h. The new National government wants to revisit these speed limits.

The agency has a survey open until 13 March on the north Rakaia speed limit and it wants to hear from lots of people. There’s a link to the survey on NZTA’s Facebook page and on its website, so I urge you to have your say.

As far as the township speed limit is concerned, the agency says it has already received lots of feedback on this too and will advise next steps soon.

Comments on social media posts will not be taken into account, so if you want NZTA to hear you, then please take the online survey.

There were plenty of events generating traffic in our district this past weekend, when the temperature hit the national high of 32 degrees on Sunday.

The Ashburton River trail was awash with runners on Saturday, while the Ashburton Domain was flooded with hungry visitors looking to try foods from our many different cultures at the Multi Cultural Bite.

For those with 4WD, the Methven Lions Club held a fundraising drive through Glenfalloch and Lake Heron Stations, and the weather was perfect for a day out in the high country, with some amazing scenery.

Trott’s Gardens hosted a women’s health expo in their magnificent grounds on Sunday, while across the bridge in Tinwald, the local dahlia circle hosted a blooming good show and the Tinwald Plains hosted the annual Children’s Day event.

These events took a lot of organising and the thousands of visitors who turned up left happy.

It’s great to see this district shine.