At a meeting of The Hills Shire Council on Tuesday 28th November, 2023, a proposal to adopt The Hills Shire Bike Plan was accepted. This plan replaces the 2009 Plan.
Bike North Advocacy Convenor for The Hills, Brian Lynne, spoke to the motion, pointing out that the Plan was riddled with errors. No recommendations from the July, 2022 consultation period had been considered in the Plan being put to Council despite some major errors including priority projects such as a 250m section of bike path to fill a gap in a non-existent shared path and possibly $15 million to remove an embankment, when a far cheaper alternative existed by simply crossing to the opposite side of the road. Mapping was full of errors with non-existent bike paths being included which could result in cyclists being placed in danger.
Bike North proposed that the Plan, which had been in development for almost three years, be adopted, but with an amendment that included the establishment of a community committee to advise on active transport. Whilst this amendment did not pass after lengthy discussion, the final motion included improved mapping of existing infrastructure, improved wayfaring signage and line marking plus an increased community consultation on active transport, all things Bike North has been lobbying for.
Prior to acceptance of the motion, almost half the Councillors, plus the Mayor and General Manager of The Hills made positive comments on Bike North and its valuable contribution to active transport in The Hills over the past 20 years.
Whilst we were not able to achieve everything we wanted, this at least provides a platform for us to get more involved with Council and develop a meaningful list of priority projects which contribute to Council’s strategic objective of “more people riding more often” by “making cycling better in northern Sydney”.
At this time, the new Bike Plan has not been published on their web site, but should be available soon. Otherwise, it is available in the Council Agenda for 28 November meeting, at Item 7.