Pittwater Life December 2020 Issue

News
Fury over
Serpentine
changes
Hundreds of residents
of The Serpentine at
Bilgola are pushing
back against a proposal to
reduce the street’s speed
limit to 10km/h as part of a
dramatic transformation of
their roadway.
The residents say they are
dumbfounded by Northern
Beaches Council’s claims
the proposed ‘Streets As
Shared Spaces’ activation
will improve the safety of
pedestrians and cyclists and
the amenity of locals.
Council proposes to trial a
walking and cycling-friendly
link within The Serpentine
for 12 months, involving
the reduced speed limit,
dedicated cycle lanes, traffic
calming structures and
marked parking bays.
The project is being
jointly funded by the NSW
Government and Council.
Public exhibition of the
proposal closed on November
23, at which time it had
attracted 415 comments.
Last month residents took
to the streets to protest.
Spokesman for The
Serpentine residents Norman
Nolan told Pittwater Life the
trial “must be abandoned”.
“Not only is it in breach of
RMS guidelines for ‘Shared
Zones’, it is a high-risk solution
to a simple problem,” he said.
“The proposed speed limits
and traffic restrictions are
totally inappropriate on a
thoroughfare which is not
only the only means of access
for residents and visitors, it is
a vital direct and alternative
thoroughfare for emergency
vehicles.
“Residents are obviously
sympathetic to the problems
currently experienced by
pedestrians but believe that
more practical and cheaper
alternative solutions are
available.”
Mr Nolan conceded some
residents had expressed
support for Council’s desire to
remove ‘rat-run’ traffic from
The Serpentine.
“But we are totally opposed
to the creation of a Shared
Zone,” Mr Nolan said.
“According to the
PROTEST: Residents of The Serpentine.
RMS, Shared Zones are
‘specifically designed for
pedestrian priority and may
be appropriate for a road, a
network of roads or roadrelated
areas where there are
comparatively high pedestrian
volumes... and where there are
very low numbers of slowmoving
vehicles’.
“That is hardly the case on
The Serpentine.”
He added another key
requirement of a Shared Space
was that vehicles should not
be reversing in such an area.
“Almost half of the
driveways on The Serpentine
are such that residents have
no alternative but to reverse
either in our out.”
He said the plan would
create serious access
problems for emergency
vehicles who needed to use
The Serpentine when The
Bends were blocked, difficult
access for rubbish removal
vehicles and significant
inconvenience for beachgoers.
Also, Mr Nolan said the
southern turn-off to The
Serpentine from Barrenjoey
Road would become more
dangerous.
“It’s a recipe for disaster,”
he said.
“It’s on a double-blind
corner – cyclists will be
asked to get into the turning
lane, with vehicles behind
unable to see them until the
last minute, and then have
to cross oncoming traffic
arriving at speed from the
other direction.
“Motorists will also be
placed in a dangerous
position, having to accelerate
to get across the on-coming
traffic, only to be confronted
with stationary cars waiting to
get through the first chicane,
along with pedestrians and
cyclists attempting to navigate
the chicane.”
The ‘Streets as Shared
Spaces: The Serpentine, Bilgola’
project also forms Section
2 of the Newport to Avalon
Pedestrian and Cycle Link.
Council CEO Ray Brownlee
said the intent was to provide
a safe environment for both
residents and visitors to the
area, and reduce the incidence
of The Serpentine being used
as a rat run by those avoiding
the Bilgola Bends.
“The trial is aimed at not
only improving safety for
pedestrians and cyclists, but
also the amenity for local
residents as well,” he said.
Meanwhile, it’s Council’s
proposed trial of a Shared
Zone for a section of Darley
Road at Manly, with 10km/h
speed restrictions, has been
scrapped in its current
form following complaints
from residents and local
businesses.
Council will discuss
feedback on The Serpentine at
its December meeting.
– Nigel Wall
Trial now a dog’s breakfast
Dogs will be banned at Palm Beach’s
Station Beach at least over summer
after Northern Beaches Council suffered an
embarrassing defeat in the NSW Land and
Environment Court last month.
Council was defending a case brought
against it by local residents group Protect
Palm Beach (PPB) which challenged Council’s
decision to implement an off-leash dogwalking
trial at the beach.
The legal action was
launched late last year.
Council decided to
allow owners to walk
their dogs on-leash at
Station Beach until the
case was heard.
Council and local dog
lobby group Pittwater
Unleashed were
quietly confident the
legal action would be
successfully defended;
however the Court
ruled Council’s August
2019 decision to permit
an off-leash dog trial
was invalid.
It declared Council
had not followed the
correct process to make
the determinations that were challenged by
PPB.
Further, the court found the decision to
permit on-leash dogs at Station Beach was
also invalid – again due to errors of process.
It ruled Council should pay costs to PPB.
It’s understood the ruling does not mean
dogs can never go onto Station Beach; rather
that they cannot go onto the beach until
Council satisfies all process requirements in
future.
No decision has been made on an appeal.
Council did not reply to Pittwater Life’s
request on how much it had spent on legal
fees defending the case.
Mayor Michael Regan said Council would
now remove the signage allowing the current
on-leash arrangements at Station Beach and
replace this with ‘dogs prohibited’ signage.
“Station Beach has been explored as a site
for an off-leash dog trial over many years
and we believed we
had followed a robust
and appropriate
process to ensure it
could proceed in an
environmentally safe
way,” Cr Regan said.
He said Council
resolved at its
meeting in July to
prepare a report on
the feasibility of offleash
arrangements
at sections of North
Palm Beach and the
southern-most end
of Mona Vale Beach
and this work was
proceeding.
Pittwater Unleashed
spokesman Mitch
Geddes said: “We are confident Council can
adjust process as necessary, so as to ward
off any similarly opportunistic technical
challenge in the future, and to finally deliver
upon the intent of the Council resolutions
that have been found in this case, rightly or
wrongly, to be imperfectly drafted.
“We commend the Council for acting in the
public interest in this matter and have every
confidence that it will continue to do so.”
– Nigel Wall
News
14 DECEMBER 2020
The Local Voice Since 1991
The Local Voice Since 1991
DECEMBER 2020 15