What's going on out West — May 2010
Hello CAMWESTies,
some exciting and not so exciting things going on out here in the west as far as cycling is concerned.
Bike Futures
A couple of months ago I attended a seminar at Redfern which was hosted and presented by Bike Sydney. It was a round up by three presenters of bicycle forums that had been held in Australia and overseas. There was some very interesting presentations from Elaena Gardner, David Borella and Adrian Emilsen on topics ranging through topics such as bike parking, end of trip facilities, advocacy and bike paths.
I received an email from Adrian today wishing to have CAMWEST host a similar forum in the Parramatta area. It looks like we will do something in mid August at a time and venue to be announced. This event will present a summary of the latest initiatives in cyclin both here and overseas. We hope to issue personal invitations to Local Government Traffic Planners, Councillors and local State and Federal MPs. Everyone is welcome to attend.
Paul Bowyer’s Heritage Rides
Paul has scheduled two Heritage Rides on 13 June and 29 August 2010. These rides commence at the Tudor Gates, Parramatta Park, at the end of George St Parramatta at 8.00am and last for about 4 hours and finish with coffee in Parramatta Park. If you haven't done one of Paul’s rides you are missing an informative dissertation on Parramatta’s History. The next two rides will also feature internal tours of Old Government House and possibly one other building of historical significance. There will be a cost of $10.00 for these rides and places will be limited to 30 riders. The rides are also part of ParraMac 2010, the celebration of the 200th Anniversary of Lachlan Macquarie’s term as Governor of Australia. Visit our website here for more details.
Secure Bicycle Parking In Parramatta
Construction has been completed on two secure bicycle storage cages in the Erby Place and Horwood Place Carparks in Parramatta. These have been built by Parramatta City Council and feature swipe card access, secure lockers, internal locking points for bikes, toilets, showers and constant video surveillance of the cages. Council just has to finalise signage and the electricals before they are opened in about 6 weeks time. Watch for announcements here, in the local press and elsewhere. Permanent and casual parking will be available for a very modest cost. This is an exciting initiative for cycling in Parramatta and should be supported. Spread the word to all your current and potential cyclists in the area. They are easy to find, just follow the green bike path. Both are on the ground floor and very easilly accesible.
Parramatta City Council Cycleways Committee
This Committee meets every two months and provides advice and guidance to Parramatta Council on cycling matters. Currently we are trying to expand our activities to promote cycling in the Parramatta Local Government Area (LGA). We are looking at encouraging Cycle Training for people commuting to and from Parramatta, promoting Ride to Work Day etc. If you have issues you wish to raise through the Committee please feel free to contact myself with your suggestions. Current members include 3 CAMWEST Memebers,Vice President of the Board of Bicycle NSW Richard Birdsey, 2 Bike North Members, a representative of the Westmead Children’s Hospital BUG and several local residents with various cycling affiliations.
Ride2 Riverstone Festival
Rob Kemp, Michael Goard and myself were part of the planning committee that organised this very successful ride. Over 460 riders attended to ride over five distances from 10 to 100 kilometres from Riverstone on 15 May 2010. We made a few mistakes, but overall feedback from Riders and other has been very positive and the event will be on again next year. The event will be held with the Annual Riverston Festival which is held on the third Saturday in May.Lock the date into your ride calendar for next year soon. Thanks also to Ian MacIndoe for his valuable assistance on the day, as well as the volunteers from neighbouring Lions Clubs, Rural Fire Service, Bicycle NSW and many others. Special thanks to Russell from the Avanti Plus Bike Shop at Castle Hill for his generous sponsorship and Sue Wiblin from the Green Travel Club at Rouse Hill Town Centre for all of the assistance from GPT. Sue saved our backsides on several occasions and ensured the event was a success. Thanks also to the Council assistance provided by Blacktown, Hawkesbury and The Hills Councils. I must also thank my wife, Sandra for her patience, advice and assistance through the whole process.
Other Stuff And Thanks
It may appear that CAMWEST doesn’t do too much but there are a few people who do a lot in the background without fanfare. One of our most under appreciated members is Rob Kemp. Rob is always on hand, often at short notice to assist with what ever is going on, often at a personal cost to his own plans. Thanks Rob for all your assistance, especially with the R2R.
My mentor, Ian MacIndoe. Ian is always on hand with historical information and advice and guidance. I believe that Parramatta may not have the cycling facilities it does now if it wasn’t for the efforts of Ian and his past CAMWEST Committees.
Michael Goard is always a ready and worthy contributor at Cycleways Committee Meetings and does a lot of advocacy work through his involvement with both CAMWEST and BikeNorth.
Paul Bowyer for his efforts and commitment to the Heritage Rides. There is a lot of background work involved in these rides that people do not appreciate.
There are a lot of others out there who work on our behalf behind the scenes without recognition. Thanks for your support.
M2 Upgrade
[Please see the article relating the recent meeting with M2 and RTA staff about this]
Most of you would be aware that there will be upgrade works on the M2 for about 2 years due to commence in October. During this time, cyclists will be excluded from the M2. As part of the construction, Transurban have been required to provide an alternative route for commuting cyclists. They have allocated a paltry $90,000 to upgrade and construct an alternative path from Epping to Winston Hills. You can make comments on the M2 Upgade through the Department of Planning. more information here. I have prepared a precis of our response about our end of the route.
The Environmental Impact Statement is on exhibition at various locations around the area or available for download at the abovementioned website. I urge you to look at the EIS as well as the proposed alternative proposed route. If you wish to comment, you can do so direct or forward your concerns to me at jonhol2@netscape.net and I will include them in our CAMWEST Submission.
Sorry for the long post. Any questions or concerns, please write or phone me on 0410 662 390.
"if we don’t change direction, we will end up where we are
headed"
(Professor Irwin Corey American vaudeville comic and
actor (1914 – ))
