Last Friday morning at 8.30am I noticed two traffic police officers outside the main entry to Mount College. Remember this is the school holidays and Maunganui Road apart from passing traffic was completely clear of any parked vehicles from Dee Street to Hewletts Road roundabout, a distance of 1.4km.
The traffic officers' vehicles could easily have been parked on Maunganui road but not so, they were parked back out of sight on the College driveway entry (illegally). The sting involved two officers, two vehicles, one hand-held laser speed camera zapping traffic from the Mount to Bayfair. To add insult to injury, the officer stopping the traffic strolled out to the middle of the road to flag ‘victims' down not withstanding the line of traffic behind, causing a potentially dangerous situation. That seems to be par for the course these days.
Current speed limit is 50 kph and was 70 kph until changed a couple of years ago by a TCC by-law which will not, it seems, stand the reasonableness test. Traffic was moderate, no danger so why were these two officers deployed? Let me tell you why – it was a revenue collecting exercise, there is no other explanation. Anyone given an Infringement Notice (who was travelling under 70 kph) should defend it in court. Oh, before I forget, 800m away at the Mount/Papamoa beaches, NZ's worst environmental disaster was unfolding…shouldn't these police officers have been at this location, assisting with beach control etc, rather than revenue collecting to meet budget?

MS Senior, Mt Maunganui.