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August 2008 newsletter |
Dear
Fellow Cyclist,
Bike
Visionary Talk & Meet Candidates - this Monday 7pm, Ewingsdale Hall
The
Ewingsdale Progress Association (EPA) and the Byron Shire Bicycle Users Group (BSBUG)
are sponsoring a pre-election meeting on Monday 1st September at 7pm in the
Ewingsdale Hall. All Byron Shire residents are welcome so please come along.
The
key note speaker at the meeting will be bikeways visionary, the
distinguished urban planning academic (now retired), Elias Duek-Cohen*,
who first promoted the NSW Coastline Cycleway over 30 years ago. Elias'
vision was to connect the fast growing settlements along the NSW coast, most of
which are less than 20km apart, with a cyclepath – thereby providing a healthy,
sustainable and accessible transport choice for local communities and
eventually a long distance cycle
route to attract tourists from interstate and overseas. A series of studies,
undertaken with NSW State Government funding and support from Bicycle NSW,
defined a route that stretches from
the Queensland border to the Victoria border for a length of approximately
1,500km. The route avoids the highway where possible and is primarily being
formed by off-street paths, local streets, fire trails and tracks. About
20% of the funding of bikeways in Byron Shire has come from this source, with
funds having to be matched by our local Council. Much more of this should be
built here.
The
EPA and BSBUG have invited local election candidates to attend this
meeting to share their views with the community on biking and related issues in
the Shire. The bikeways issue has been consistently ranked amongst the most
important ones for the Ewingsdale community, the gateway to Byron Bay. The meeting will also be an
opportunity to present the program for the Shire wide "Ride to Bruns"
Bike Week community event on Sunday 28th September.
As
well, BSBUG is distributing its questionaire to Council candidates (attached).
This questionaire is to record their views on
cycling and their commitment to improve biking facilities in our community, if
they are elected. In the week preceding the election BSBUG will publish a
table summarising the results of the candidates survey so that voters concerned
about support for cycling here, can best judge which candidates are serious
about encouraging cycling, reducing green house gas emissions, cutting traffic
congestion and improving the health of our community. Background on bikeway
funding to date is also included. *former Associate Professor of Town Planning, University of
New South Wales, Life Fellow Planning Institute of Australia
Bike
Plan Adopted with no targets
Yesterday, Thursday 28th August, Council adopted the Bike Plan, as
put forward by the Staff. As mentioned before this includes a good catalogue of
most of the possible bike routes. Our elected representatives have again shown
a lack of true leadership - despite clear written support for the stated BSBUG
objectives from many of you, unfortunately no overarching aims or specfic
yearly goals for either bikeways or road shoulders have been made part of the
Plan. There is a glimmer of hope - provision has been made for a future setting
of Key Performance Indicators and the Section 94 Developer Contribution Plan is
being revised. It has been left to the new Council to perhaps make more
significant progress. Right now it looks like business as usual at a
snails pace.
Some basic facts:
- The Plan lists about 135 Km
of potential bike routes
- Our estimate is that a
minimum of 30 Km and preferably 60 Km are urgently needed
to create a safe bikeway network to link our communities & schools
- Council has been
building an average of 2.4Km per year of bikeways for the
past 4 years, at a cost of about $380,000 per year.
- The yearly Council roads
budget is about $7.5 million, so bikeways represent about 5% of that
- About 20% of the Council
spend on bikeways has been from rates, rest is from government
grants & S94 Developer Contributions
We need Councillors truly committed to implementing the community
demand for bike infrastructure at a significantly accelerated pace. Many of the
candidates sound like they are supportive of biking but sit on the fence when
it comes to real vision and increased funding. Please make your views known at
all opportunities during this election campaign.
"BIKES
TO BRUNS" - Sunday September 28th
This is organised by BSBUG with the Brunswick Chamber of Commerce,
who are contributing mightily.
Planning is well advanced, we still require more ride
leaders for this fun event - please contact NickBowden on 0427 620 711, bikenik@gmail.com
RIDE TO BRUNSWICK HEADS 8-10am
Take your time or follow the
leader to arrive in Brunswick Heads at the Terrace from 10-10.30 to watch the
Brunswick Surf Club Family Triathlon finish (Triathlon starts at 8am).
Full details of routes and
timetable available on www.byronbug.org.au
or www.brunswickheads.org.au
Route #1 8.00 Depart Suffolk Park (33km)
Route #1a 8.00 Depart
Bangalow via Myocum (31km)
Route #1b 8.30 Depart
Tyagarah via Myocum (16km)
Route #2 8.00 Depart Federal via McCauley's Lane
(26km)
Route #3 8.30 Depart Main Arm via Mullum (22km)
Route #4 8.45 Depart Pocket via Ocean Shores (16km)
Optional beach
ride return to Byron/Tyagarah leaving Bruns at 1pm (low tide 1.22pm)
Registration, certificate & showbag on arrival in the Soundshell at the
Terrace
FAMILY BIKE FUN AT THE TERRACE
10-1
10-12 Bike
Expo
·
Free
bike health checks
· Displays of
restored, electric & recumbent bikes, gear and gadgets
·
Safety
information giveaways
·
BSC
Bike Plan on display
11.30 Family
entertainment at the Soundshell - Circus Arts from the Byron Entertainment
Centre http://www.circusarts.com.au/
12.00 Official opening & launch of the "Biking around Bruns" pocket
bike brochure, Giovanni Ebono as MC
12.15 Family
Tour de Bruns - invitation to test out the Brunswick route with a leader or
at your leisure
11-2 Family
picnic & Brunswick Chamber BBQ fundraiser
1.00 Beach
ride back to Byron Bay (low tide 1.22pm)
BIKING AROUND BRUNS BOOKLET
A 12 page pocket sized
colour brochure for visitors & locals containing:
• Tour de Bruns + 4
other suggested bike routes of various difficulty levels in the Shire
• Cycling information on safety, BSBUG and local
organisations
• Bike sales, bike hire & bike tour information
Yours in biking, be safe,
have fun, Bernard