Cycling Advocacy - Campbelltown NSW Australia

Link to: MacBUG Cycling Test of Campbelltown "Cycleway"
Link to: Advocacy, driver attitudes, motorist intimidation, cyclist abuse

Peter asks that drivers be aware of the bikes they share the road with which don't have crumple zones, air bags, seat belts etc. Bikes also need a little space because they may have to avoid drains, potholes, broken glass, debris from car accidents. They may also be affected by the winds causing them to veer. Peter contacted me later to add his warning to fellow cyclists "always wear something bright and colourful."

Peter was hit by a car during the training ride on Saturday morning on the roundabout at the junction of Menangle Rd and Glen Alpine Drive and ended up in Liverpool Hospital. The driver said that "he didn't see Peter as he entered the roundabout" which Peter had almost vacated.

This was the third accident involving a cyclist in Macarthur last week. Peters accident could have been avoided with a little care by the car driver and better road planning from the council. The cycleway Peter had been using disappears before the roundabout and becomes a left turn lane forcing the cyclist or motorist into the right lane to carry straight on. This is very common at intersections in Campbelltown. Unfortunately the other man wasn't as lucky and died at 47 years of age. The 3rd man was hit on his MTB by a car, bike written off and the car driver left without stopping leaving the cyclist unhurt.

Letter to Councillor Aaron Rule Mayor of Campbelltown

The Bypass was built; Macarthur Square was developed; the historic police station torn down and replaced with the current court house. The Coaching Inn became Campbelltown Mall and Campbelltown's Engineering / Traffic dept went on to build a car friendly city which is what it is today.

Campbelltown Council still proclaim their environmental virtues with the purchase of Hybrid cars.

The cyclists point of view

We also received the additional benefits of making new friends, seeing the countryside and Sydney as we had not seen it before.

We have reduced our petrol consumption and contributed to the reduction of environmental pollution. The intention was to purchase fresh food more often by riding to the shopping centres for small amounts of fresh produce. Good for us, great for the shopping centres. We placed less stress on the parking environment. In short everybody would have benefitted.

Stress Reduction

So what went wrong

Council concentrates on training school children how to ride properly then throws them out into the traffic having done their basic job.

It is well known amongst cyclists that Campbelltown is a hostile environment to cycling despite the health, environmental and financial benefits that cycling brings to the community.

There are no bicycle safe corridors / cycleways in Campbelltown. Instead the council has painted lines along The Parkway and St Johns Rd, then inserted painted cycle profiles on the road and called them cycleways. These corridors are great for parking cars, especially near Bradbury pool, but offer the cyclist no protection at all. To the contrary, they force the cyclist out of the lane into the path of fast moving traffic because the "cycle lane" is simply too narrow. Also cars should not be allowed to park in cycle lanes (ref: RTA).

Sad to say that throughout greater Campbelltown there are very few "Beware of cyclist signs". Signs aid the cyclist in crossing at intersections, at traffic lights or roundabouts and on shared pedestrian/cyclist pathways which we do not currently have in our community. In fact the councils engineers have designed the roads in such a way as to force the cyclist into mainstream traffic on even the busiest roads at intersections.

Pathways are quite capable of accommodating both cyclists and pedestrians, but do so is illegal in Campbelltown, unlike in Surrey Hills, Fairfield and many other areas of greater Sydney.

Hard shoulders are often scattered with broken glass holes, beer bottles and debris from accidents which once again force the cyclist into traffic. Motorists often don't realise that a two wheel machine does wander a little, they drive too close to the cyclist which is scary and dangerous.

There are no secure locations to lock your bike even if you chose to visit the shopping areas or Main Street.

Council attitude

Early 2007 I met with the councils Bicycle Education Officer and his coordinator after previously emailing them a list of suggestions to improve the cyclists lot in the campbelltown area.

On arrival I was asked to pick the two most important items on the list. They then proceeded to suggest other organisations or departments which they felt were responsible. I listened to them "pass the buck" and within 10 minutes had formed the opinion that this was a complete waste of time. It never crossed their minds to bring in other council departments. On leaving, the bicycle person told me it wasn't part of his job description to work with adults, the council training area was open three days a week and at the weekends and he hadn't ridden a bike since his university days!

What I experienced on that day was a complete lack of interest and imagination coupled with apathy. "They couldn't see the wood for the trees". Even though those trees are Green!

Lets Compare councils

1. Fairfield Council have their own bicycle hire scheme and many cycleways with considerable support for community groups.
2. Liverpool have cycleways which join the M7, cycleways around Chipping Norton lakes and via the Liverpool Railtrail join onto the Fairfield cycleways.
3. Many of the Sydney councils have cycleways which can entered at Casula (Liverpool) and ride via the M7 cycleway through the Prospect Recreational Area, Homebush Bay, Cooks River, Bay to Bay cycleway to Tempe where people can catch a train back to Campbelltown, a distance of 70 kilometres. The cyclist can carry on with the ride and finish at Cape Solander (Kernel), a distance of 100 kilometres. During this ride the cyclist can opt out at a number of railway stations thereby creating a ride to suit any group of riders.
4. Cyclists can ride from Homebush Bay to Parramatta visiting the arsenal along the Parramatta River.
5. Catch a River Cat to Circular Key and visit the Royal Botanical Gardens.
6. Ride from Liverpool to Parramatta
7. Ride the coast to Wollongong and South
8. Ride through Surry Hills along pathways shared by both pedestrian and cyclists from Central Station to Moore Park
9. Clover Moore (Mayor Sydney) is building cycle parking areas
10. Wollondilly Shire are developing a Rail Trail from Picton south.

Campbelltown Councils activities.

1. They have built a concrete 1 / 2 kilometer cycleway in one of the parks within the last couple of years.
2. Painted lines on the roads: Parkway, St Johns Rd and maybe more many years ago.
3. Glen Alpine does have an excellent cycleway built when the suburb was established.
4. Accessing the RTA Bicycle funding at $100,000 per year, where does it go? There are also other funds to tap into for bicycle development.
5. Allowing advertising on shelters which interfere with cyclists views of intersection, this does create income for council but is illegal according to the RTA.

What a shame that councils who we, the ratepayers place our trust don't have the imagination and knowledge to cater for the future.

Letter recipients

• Councillor Aaron Rule
• Pat Farmer MP
• Graham West MP Campbelltown
• Maurice Iemma MP Premier
• Phil Costa MP Wollondilly
• Andrew McDonald MP Glenfield
• Mandy Perrin Editor Macarthur Chronicle
• Jeff McGill Macarthur Advertiser

Update on letter to Cnr Aaron Rule 26th June 2007 & correspondence

• Cnr Rule thanks us for our Email. Has asked the Director of City Works to examine the issues we have raised. Will contact us again upon receipt of the Director's response.
• Saturday 28th July - No response from the Mayor or the Director of City Works.
• Graham West MP (Campbelltown) passed our letter on to Phil Costa MP (Wollondilly), haven't figured out why. He possibly hasn't realised that Macarthur Bicycle Users Group riders come from the whole of Macarthur including Campbelltown!
• 3rd August 07 - Received Email from Mr Dick Webb Manager Technical Services Campbelltown Council
  I refer to our previous discussions, and advise that Council last week agreed to provide funding for the review of the Bikeplan, along with the adoption of its overall Better Town Program of works and improvements. We will be preparing a brief later this month for the engagement of a consultant to undertake the review. Part of the requirements of the brief will be to meet with local users such as MacBug at the start of the review, and to also consult with the users once a draft is ready for comment. At this stage I cannot give any firm dates when you will be contacted, but it is likely to be around late September/early October, given the need to go through a formal quotation and evaluation period prior to confirming the engagement of the consultant.
• 6th August 07 - Received phone call from Mr Dick Webb Manager Technical Services Campbelltown Council
  Mr Webb apologised for the lack of communication and confirmed the consultant / review.