WHERE'S OUR CYCLEWAY MR IEMMA?

The Shire community wants a commitment NOW to design and build the WHOLE cycleway from Sutherland to Cronulla in this term of government. Tell your representatives you want it too!

The NSW Government is spending $231m to duplicate the Cronulla railway line to allow trains every ten minutes during peak hour. This major construction project presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build a shared cycling and pedestrian path from Sutherland to Cronulla using the rail corridor wherever possible.

Contact your local politicians and sign our petition to ask the NSW Government to build the Sutherland-Cronulla Cycleway NOW!

Update - 11 May 2007

It took a week of counting, but in the end Barry Collier retained Miranda for the ALP by a mere 603 votes, making Miranda the third most marginal seat in NSW.

This is great news for our campaign, because now Labor's hard-nosed strategists may be prepared to spend more on popular local projects like the cycleway to retain the seat.

But we must still make a lot of noise to keep the issue front of mind and keep on lobbying the pollies for real action.

We're planning a number of events including a big public meeting mid-year, so join the cycleway email list to stay informed.

What do we want?

• Release the scoping study completed over three months ago
• Complete a detailed design of the whole route from Sutherland to Cronulla (not just sections on railway corridor!)
• Incorporate necessary changes such as bridge widening in current rail duplication work
• Secure funding from many budget sectors, like roads, transport, health, climate change and recreation
• Set a timeframe to build the whole cycleway

When do we want it? NOW!

Previous updates »

Tell your pollies you want the cycleway

The government already has advice that a cycleway could be built along sections of the rail corridor. SharkBike has mapped a low-stress route — these maps are available from Sutherland Council, the Environment Centre and bike shops and libraries throughout the Shire. Although this route is the best available now for most cyclists, it is somewhat indirect, sometimes narrow and has road crossings that necessitate dismounting. It could be greatly improved at relatively little expense.

1. Phone or email your state MP. Check this map for electorate boundaries. It only takes a minute – just ask whoever answers the phone to give the politician your message:

• Miranda: Barry Collier (Labor): 9525 6378 barry.collier@parliament.nsw.gov.au
• Menai: Alison Megarrity (Labor): 9825 3653 amegarr@parliament.nsw.gov.au
• Cronulla: Malcolm Kerr (Liberal) 9526 8377 cronulla@parliament.nsw.gov.au
• Georges River: Kevin Greene (Labor): 9580 9349 kevin.greene@parliament.nsw.gov.au
• Heathcote: Paul McLeay (Labor): 9548 0144 heathcote@parliament.nsw.gov.au
• Kogarah: Cherie Burton (Labor): 9587 9684 kogarah@parliament.nsw.gov.au
• Rockdale: Frank Sartor (Labor): 9597 1414 rockdale@parliament.nsw.gov.au
• Other electorates: see the NSW parliament website for contact details.

2. Print this form letter and post or fax it to your local MP (although hand-written letters are best if you have time).

3. Write a letter to the editor of The Leader. Email a few sentences in your own words to amartinez@fairfax.com.au

4. Click here to sign our petition

Previous updates

23 March 2007

As reported in today's Leader newspaper (Sutherland edition, p12):

It's great that it's firmly on the agenda for both parties, although neither has a strong record of supporting cycling – see vote4cycling.com.au.

It seems neither party has committed enough money to properly plan the cycleway, let alone build it. (Then again, would it really cost $650,000 just for the design?!)

You can read their media releases and make up your own mind:

• Liberals offer support for cycleway (PDF 23kB)
• Labor's response (PDF 124kB)

I know who I'll be voting for, and it won't be either of them!

28 February 2007

On February 19th Transport Minister John Watkins made the announcement we were all waiting for.

Or not.

He said the government would spend $50,000 to plan two sections of the Sutherland-Cronulla cycleway. No commitment to actually build them though. And these sections cover less than one-sixth of the total distance. Oh, and they definitely won't start work till at least 2009, after the rail duplication is finished. You can read his media release here.

We've labelled it a "Claytons cycleway" in our own media release. It's a slap in the face to our hopes for a livable, healthy and sustainable community for ourselves and our kids.

But all is not lost... yet.

There's still time to make the government listen. We have two of their most marginal electorates right here: Miranda and Menai. And the Liberals are keen to one-up Labor on this issue.

We must get this message out:

We want a commitment NOW to build the WHOLE cycleway from Sutherland to Cronulla in the next term of government (by 2011).

If that's what you want too, now's the time to say so!

The $231m Cronulla Line Duplication project is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to build the cycleway. We must not let it slip away!

December 2006

Those who signed SharkBike's printed petition for a Sutherland-Cronulla cycleway may have received a letter from Transport Minister John Watkins saying:

It is clear that Shire residents feel very strongly about this issue and I commend them – and you – for your advocacy. The Government expects to be able to make a decision on this matter in the very near future.

It seems the Minister's staff pored over the 3000-strong petition and wrote to everyone whose handwriting they could decipher. Or perhaps just those in the marginal electorate of Miranda... Either way it's a remarkable effort and bodes well for our campaign. It's unlikely they'd go to that trouble to get our hopes up unless they'd already decided to follow through with a commitment to build the cycleway before the election in March.

Our focus now is on quality and completeness:

• We must tell the government we want a high-quality off-road path so we can cycle and walk separate from traffic. Anything less (bike lanes or little blue signs) would be a cop-out, a huge missed opportunity and won't make cycling in the Shire safer.
• We should ask Roads Minister Eric Roozendaal to direct the RTA to build any sections where the rail corridor can't be used, so we get a fully connected path right from Sutherland to Cronulla.

Railcorp and RTA engineers have been investigating the route and consulting with Sutherland Council. The Council's recommendation is for a completely off-road path hugging the railway corridor with bridges where needed. This is exactly what we want: kids, seniors and everyone in between could ride to the beach, schools or shops without using the roads at all. What an asset for southern Sydney!

Take a look at the Council's exciting off-road route proposal. Zoom right in and imagine riding it!

If you like what you see, please send a quick email to your local MP. Ask him or her to urge the Roads and Transport Ministers to make the path from Sutherland to Cronulla entirely off-road – like the Council's proposed route.

Here are their email addresses:

• Miranda electorate: Barry Collier
• Cronulla electorate: Malcolm Kerr
• Heathcote electorate: Paul McLeay

Other electorates: see the NSW parliament website for a list of MP contact details.

Thanks to Ian Sergeant for the interactive map and Mark Chigwidden at the Council for the route proposal.

Check out our advertisement (PDF 680kB) appearing in The Leader (Sutherland edition) Tuesday 6th March.

Want to do more?