Denise Phipps

7:08 Mayor Wilkie: The next application, two questions, is from Ms Denise Phipps, and the same process will apply.

7:16 Speaker 3: Okay. So question one from Ms Phipps. Can Council please explain in detail how this recreationally focused pathway, in inverted commas, will address core community needs detailed in feedback in 2021 through Council's walking and cycling strategy, especially those aimed at improving safe connectivity, genuine cycle safety, everyday usage.

7:44 Director Walsh: Thank you, Ms Phipps, for the question. The active street directly responds to the core community needs identified in the 2021 walking and cycling strategy feedback, particularly around safety, everyday use, connectivity, congestion, and emissions reduction. The project delivers a safe, continuous link between key destinations, including homes, beaches, parks, bus stops, schools, and the Bridgham Village. By curating a safe, continuous link between key destinations, including homes, beaches, schools, parks, bus stops, schools, and the Bridgham Village, and by creating a low-speed, low-stress street environment with traffic calming, safer crossings, clear priority for people walking and riding, and dedicated pathway for less confident users, it provides genuine cycling safety rather than the narrow on-road shoulders or unsafe mixed traffic environments residents identified as concerns. This kind of safe local street corridor supports everyday trips to school, the beach, local shops and bus stops, rather than being limited to recreational use. The coastal pathway study and liveability feedback showed strong demand for short, local, safe walking and cycling routes that reduce reliance on cars. The active street directly meets this need. By encouraging more people to walk or ride for the short local journeys, the project also contributes to reduce local traffic, fewer short car trips, and consequently lower transport emissions, aligning with the community's state of priorities and Council's long-term transport and sustainability goals.

9:03 In short, the active street improves safety, improves mobility, and improves mobility safety, creates everyday connectivity, encourages modal shift away from cars, and supports lower congestion emissions, exactly the outcomes the community asked for.

9:13 Speaker 3: Thank you. The final one from Ms Phipps. Second question from Ms Phipps. Will Council halt the current ill-conceived, unproven, and unwanted active street project planning, consult with all impacted residents, and, based on feedback, proceed with route and design changes that address local community needs, and do not compromise local and regional residential character, amenity, and safety as requested in the petition presented before Council and signed by over 140 local residents and ratepayers.

9:47 Director Walsh: Council has received diverse feedback about the proposal. As well as the petition, other requests include residents seeking supply of a footpath, resolution of parking problems, concern for speeding vehicles, as well as advocacy from stakeholders seeking safer cycling routes. All of which this project seeks to address. Council is committed to listening and working with the community. Council has made changes based on feedback during the preliminary design phase, and will continue to consult with all interested residents and stakeholders as the project progresses. Council has planned additional information sessions, including information pop-ups, and a walking tour in the locality in the new year, and will send out information in the near future. Council looks forward to ongoing dialogue through upcoming communication opportunities.

10:33 Mayor Wilkie: Thank you, Director Walsh.