How an 8-year-old struck civility into Wellington council – and got her message heard
Wednesday, 3 December 2025
The Wellington City Council chambers can be a bellicose place, even in these kumbaya times, but one 8-year-old got all the adults in the room on one kind page – and maybe got a change in the process.
Privately, some around the first Regulatory Processes Committee table on Wednesday are no fan of speed bumps – and certainly not the spend on them – but what politician is going to go up against an 8-year-old?
Shortly after 1.30pm on Wednesday Nina-Mae Bell presented a petition with 212 signatures to the council committee. It called for a speed bump at the bottom of Houghton Bay Rd between Cave and Hungerford roads on Wellington’s South Coast.
“The cars are really fast,” she told the committee. “It is not safe for people to cross the road or for me to walk to school (Houghton Valley School) by myself.“
Her petition says a speed bump would, “allow many people to be able to walk and ride safely up and down the valley and to enjoy the new playground – especially school kids like me”.
Read more:
The first “question” came from new Green councillor Jonny Osborne. It was a congratulations and she urged fellow councillors to consider it carefully. The expected rebuke from the chairperson – it should be questions, not statements – was ignored.
Up next, fellow Green Rebecca Matthews who is no stranger to hardball questions … what gave you the idea to do a petition? Karl Tiefenbacher – should there be speed bumps both ways – followed suit, as did Afnan Al-Rubayee and mayor Andrew Little.
First time chairperson Geordie Rogers then suggested Nina-Mae and her parents stay around so all there could congratulate her afterwards.
“The beauty of council is petitions like this one – where our young leaders can come and make requests from the council to improve our city for everyone,” Rogers said before the meeting. “Our streets need to be safe for everyone, and 212 people clearly agree that this street could be made safer.”
The council appears to be taking notice. Traffic data from 2021 showed an average speed of 50.7kph and a daily volume of 2705 vehicles, with no reported crashes in the past five years.
It has now ordered a new speed and volume survey to determine whether a speed bump or other traffic- calming measures are appropriate. Staff will then report back with findings and recommended actions.
Nina-Mae also has the receptive ear of local Rongotai MP Julie Anne Genter, who has already lobbied for traffic calming at nearby schools such as Island Bay.
“I fully support Nina-Mae’s initiative and applaud her effort. I urge the Wellington City Council to think about how empowering small traffic-calming changes can be for our young people and their independence,” she said.
“They should be a priority because they are the future.”
Nina-Mae’s father, Mike Bell, said the family had been talking about petitions when Nina-Mae decided to start one of her own. He estimated they dropped up to 300 letters around local streets before school to gather the signatures.
“The majority of [drivers] are good but you do get people screaming up,” he said.